The Dark Guardian
by BladesCutButWordsAreDeeper
Summary: Basically KH2 redone. Sora ventures with not only Donald and Goofy, but also a frighteningly controlling and pessimistic vampire girl who seems to be destined to be a keyblade wielder, and also Sora's guardian. Sora/OC Follows KH2 mostly
1. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A Completely Different Version Of Kingdom Hearts II

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

This is told in the view of a girl, a vampire from a place called the underworld. It isn't in Greece with Hercules, which will be explained in the next chapter when Sora asks her. Her personality is everywhere, so throughout the story she will have various moods and not always the same views on things as she did only two moments ago. At first she will be very abrupt and to the point, never thinking before making her decisions and going completely on instinct, but only because she is still slightly wary from sleep. Eventually, she'll get her head straight.

Also, I'm very sorry to all Sora-Kairi fans. This is a Sora-OC fic. No Riku-Sora action either. Gomen. I hope that this story will appease anyone who bothers to read it.

To all who have read either of my previous fics, I decided I would start a new fic sooner than I thought.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

When I woke up, I wasn't sure what as going on around me. I could remember everything, but I couldn't remember this bright white room. When I stepped down the steps, I looked behind me to find a huge flower-type container, and I frowned in confusion. Blinking, I tried to see if I could make out anything else in the blinding room. Light never did go well with my sensitive, immortal electric blue eyes.

My marble skin was as smooth as the floor as I lay against it, listening for a vibration or an echo. Nothing came, and when I sat back up I had to brush aside my raven hair, letting my bangs fall into place over my left eye. It was a slight relief to look through shadows, not having to see the brightness, but my right eye still had to deal with it. I didn't bother trying to fix my hair in a way where it wouldn't.

I sighed softly, sitting cross legged. However, when I looked down I was surprised. I was not wearing the clothing I remembered wearing before. Instead, I was wearing a black top, sleeveless and made of some expensive material I could not name. A hood hung off of it, and underneath I wore a black corset. I wore a pair of tight jeans, pure black, and I recalled the name skinny jeans. They were popular among people who considered themselves 'punk'.

I was confused as to why I was wearing this clothing. Before, I had been wearing my favorite black robe. Then I wondered how long before was. _It's not like it matters, _I thought bitterly. _I'm a vampire. Time doesn't exist for me, remember?_

I stood again, heading for the wall to see if I could feel an entrance anywhere. As my hand ran along the length of the wall, I looked at the flower-shaped container I had been inside of. How had I come to be here? Brief flashes of memory went through my mind. A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, in a torn white dress. She was smiling, saying everything was alright. I was in her room, also a blinding white, and there were pictures drawn everywhere. She had said they were the future.

Before that, I had been running. I was running towards something, someone. A man in a black cloak, his face obscured. I had tried to follow him, but failed. Instead I had come through the girl's bedroom. I tried to remember why I had been following that man, but nothing came to me. Only a burst of unexplained, burning hatred.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, I found a crack in the wall. _Finally,_ I though. _Freedom. _I pushed against the wall, only using some of my strength. It gave way easily enough, and I found myself in a darker hallway, lit by blue lights. To the side were smaller, less elegant versions of the flower I had been encased inside, and two of them were open. I was immediately on guard.

I walked forward stealthily, my feet not making a single sound, when I heard sudden cheering like a reunion had just been made. When I finally reached the end of the hall, where a door was open, I found that it was. In the center of a bright room exactly like the one I had been held in was a flower the exact same as mine. In front of it were three…people.

One was a human, an actual one. He was, to my slight embarrassment to admit, quite cute. His light brown hair was long, and in soft spikes. His eyes were a light blue, and seemed to hold so many emotions, both hidden and visible, that I couldn't help but feel a little touched. His face was innocent, boyish and carefree, yet held maturity and knowing. He wore clothes too small for him; a red jumpsuit reaching high above his knees and too short of sleeves, a black and white sweater that was as small as the jumpsuit and with a blue hood, and a pair of yellow boots that were probably uncomfortable.

He was hugging and laughing with a duck dressed in a blue shirt and an English cap with a red feather, and had a comical, raspy voice. The other was something of a dog, with a dog snout and droopy dog ears, and fur, but he had ten fingers with white gloves and wore a green turtleneck, a black vest, and a pair of yellow sweats with beige steel-toed boots. The duck carried a wand, and the dog carried a shield.

I was about to leave, when the boy seemed to notice me. He stood straight, and gave me a warm smile. I gave a sarcastic smile back, my fangs peeking over my full lower lip, and his eyes flashed in very brief fear before he was once again smiling. The boy was too relaxed for a normal reaction to just meeting a vampire, which confused me.

"Excuse me, can you tell us where we are?" he asked. His voice was kind, and was a nice sort of deep. Smooth, innocent and cute. I glared at him, crossing my arms. I had weak spots for cute kids.

"Sorry, no," I snapped, about to turn around again.

"Then where are you from?" The duck asked in his over-raspy voice. I sighed, glaring at the bright walls, and crossed my arms in a huff. I was tired, and the light was getting to me. I wanted to know what was going on, and it was confirmed that these three would be unable to help me. I decided that if I amused them for a moment, they would let me go free.

"The underworld," I stated sourly. That was one way to put it. Even the underworld was in a state though. Wasn't that why I had been following the man? Because I suspected him? Understanding suddenly flew through me, and I felt a little better. "I don't know where this is. I was pursuing someone."

"Do you know how long you've been here for?" The boy asked, and I sighed, irritated. He must have been somewhere along the lines of fifteen, a low possibility of him being sixteen. Wasn't that how old I was, or had been, when I was changed? I felt pity for him.

"No clue, and I don't really care. Time doesn't matter to me." I snapped, and this time I did turn. I began to walk down the dark hall, examining the metal walls that gave off a blue light with the lights that were attached to them. It was like a tunnel. We were underground. I continued walking, listening as the three from the room made the decision to follow my example. I could hear them behind me, examining everything, and I eventually reached a study.

It was something of a study, anyways. There was a set of computer screens in a corner, a stool in front of them, and wires everywhere. There was something like a teleporting device-or at least what one would think is a teleporting device-in the corner. I stood very still for a moment, making sure there were no hidden corners that anyone could come out of.

Unexpectedly, the boy walked straight into me. I forgot I was standing in font of the door. He got knocked over, but the dog creature steadied him before giving an odd sound that was something like a bark and a laugh. The only way I could describe it was 'Ehyuk'. I ignored them, stepping forward.

I half expected there to be a trap, but I had safe entry to the next room, which showed to be the final room leading to a large staircase, where a bright room was above. I climbed the steps, listening for any sounds, but it was in vain as the three behind me made a ruckus of cheering at finding somewhere bright.

The room above was a library. The source of lighting was the window, covered by beige curtains. I discarded the room, leaving it immediately, and stepped out. A large hall was shown, and I walked forward a few feet. On the other side of what must have been a mansion was a single door. I didn't bother going to it, and instead went right down the stairs in the center. The front door was right there, across the large entrance room, but being in the open always made me unsteady.

Tables everywhere were broken, doors left open to reveal more broken furniture, but there was no sign of life beside the three behind me. Were they following me? I didn't care, because they probably had the same objective as me-get out of this ghost house and find out what the hell happened. I wondered what had happened in this house, and what kind of argument had taken place to get the mansion this ruined.

Just as I was about to cross the floor, the boy called out, "Wait!" I turned, starting to get irked by these three figures, but the look of desperation made me soft. I wanted to hit something with my frustration for my weak spots. "I know you don't really know what happened, or why any of us are here, but…we'd be happy to have you as a part of the group until you find out."

I stared at him, incredulous. Didn't he realize that I was a vampire? Someone who could suck his blood at any second? "Listen, kid. You don't even know my name. Shouldn't you wait a few hours, until I've laughed with you, until you give any kind of offer like that?" The boy stood there, nervous as he thought over my words. I realized he wasn't the kind to think things through. "Oh, you're one of those kindhearted, always hoping for the best kids, right?"

"I…wouldn't really say that," the boy muttered, blushing. However, his two companions both snickered.

"Yup, that's Sora!" the dog creature said in a goofy voice. "I'm Goofy"-the irony-"and that there is Donald."

"Well, it's nice to meet your trio, but not really, but I have to go," I said, turning to leave. I wasn't expecting the hand on my shoulder, and I froze. I turned to find the boy, Sora, looking at me with a determined face.

"You didn't tell us your name," he said. I stared at him for a long moment, and then brushed his hand off.

"My name's Saku," I muttered, and turned away. "Good day to you." There was one more nervous tug on my hood, and I turned with no patience left. "Could you _please_ let me go?" however, I was startled to see that Sora was holding out a cloak (where did he get that from?) and giving me a sheepish grin.

"Don't vampires burst into flame or melt or something when they're in the sun?" He asked, and I blanched. Before I could stop myself, I was giggling. I always giggled when people came up with this assumption after meeting me.

"No, no." I finally gasped out. "The sun doesn't do anything to us. The only thing it does is hurt our eyes and make our skin…well, in a way shimmer. But not in a way where you're like a shining diamond, just a little shimmer, like a glow. Like…I don't know, when you stand in the rain and when you watch the rain bouncing off of an object it looks like it's glowing."

"So…you won't get hurt?" Sora asked, relief flooding his face. I realized why he had been concerned, and why he was so eager to let me into their group. He didn't want to see anyone hurt. I chuckled to myself, wondering how a boy could be so innocent.

"You have a lot to learn, little boy," I said softly. Sora went wide eyed, and Donald and Goofy both snickered. "Don't worry about it."

"A-alright," Sora muttered, throwing the cloak on the floor as I turned to head for the door. I wondered if I would see them around again. I didn't get attacked as I reached the door, and when I opened it into the bright sunlight, I felt a little less on edge. If I hadn't been attacked yet, then I was sure I was safe for a little while.

Outside was huge. There was a large garden for the front, leading to large gates that were open and what seemed to be a large wood. I didn't look back as I headed for the wood, and followed a slightly worn path. Eventually, the woods became thinner and I came to a wall with a hole in the side, and when I stepped out of it I found myself in a rather large, and rather quiet town.

Where to now? I wondered. Instead of standing around waiting for the Trio to catch up to me, I headed forward with grim determination. I was sure there would be something here for me to see, to use. A way out.

The town was extremely quiet, and it was only late afternoon. The whole place was pretty nice, very bright. It looked like this place was in a constant twilight. Everywhere I went, the houses and buildings and walls were all the same colour, and it always shone just as bright. Soon, I found myself at a street where a sign said that the train station was right up the hill.

I took the opportunity, and was about to head up the hill when something flitted past. Immediately on guard, I backed against a wall. That thing had deffinently not been human. All I had seen was a white body, and I knew something wasn't right. Further away, I could hear Sora's voice and almost instantly cursed. _He's gunna get caught in something, and I'm going to have to save him because I think he's cute. Curse me and my weaknesses!_

I began to run towards the voice, but something caught me. I turned, ready to hurt something, but a hand covered my mouth. I tried to bite it, but whoever it was had made sure to hold tightly to the point where, if I were human, my jaw probably would have broken. "So, this is the chosen girlie."

I wanted to say _what are you talking about?_ but was unable to. Instead, I gave out a low, warning growl. It rippled through my body as I willed myself to give into my power if this man held me there any longer. Obviously, he knew about vampires, because he immediately let go when he noticed the shivers running along my body. "Geese, no need to get all psycho."

"Who are you?" I snarled, finally able to look at the smuggler. He was wearing a black cloak, but his hood was down. Spiked red hair and green eyes faced me, and underneath the eyes were two black marks. Was he wearing makeup?

"The name's Axle," he said with what I guessed was supposed to be a charming grin. I spat at his feet. He winced, and then straightened himself. "Obviously not a friendly one, are you?"

"Why are you here? Why do you have that cloak?" I hissed, and the boy-he looked only seventeen or eighteen-shrugged.

"Why is anyone here?" he asked, and then grinned. "As for the cloak, I'm sure a girlie like you will figure it out soon. In fact, if I'm correct…no, I guess I shouldn't spill too much." He shrugged, and only made me more confused. I stood to my fullest height, but I was still quite a few inches short than him. So I hissed, baring my fangs. He didn't react, or at least didn't show it, so I asked another question.

"What do you mean by chosen?" It was a fair enough question. He was making an attempt at being mysterious to irk me, and so far it was working. So I amused him by asking the questions he obviously wanted asked.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to figure that out as well, won't you?" He said, and then snapped his fingers. A black void appeared. "So sorry our introduction has to be cut short, but I only came to check up on…things." He seemed almost frustrated as he said this, and then stepped into the void. However, he once again snapped his fingers just before disappearing, and I found myself in front of four different white, gangly creatures that had zipped mouths.

I cursed, wishing I could follow the boy and throttle him, but instead readied myself into a pouncing stance. I began to circle the creatures, my stance that of a feline's, and then I pounced, hunting my prey.

It was easy to finish the creatures off. They were gone in a minute, a simple kick to the back or a punch to what was supposed to be a head, and they suddenly disappeared. What kind of enemy was that?

And then Sora appeared, Donald and Goofy directly behind him. They were followed by three more kids around Sora's age, all of whom were talking quietly amongst themselves while heading fro what looked like the train station. When Sora saw me, he grinned. "We meet again," he said. I just shrugged, turning and beginning my walk up the slope. When I reached the top, I looked to my left at the view and saw myself looking at the whole town, or at least this side of it. I went to the railing, leaning on it as I listened to the others also approach. When I glanced over, I saw that the three kids had not followed the Trio to the station plaza.

Sora began to walk towards me with a friendly smile, but he didn't reach me. Instead, I found myself groaning in protest while once again crouching low. Standing between us was another creature. It was the same as the other ones that Axle boy had brought, so I knew I could deal with it easily, but Sora, while backing up in surprise, suddenly had a materialized…key? _The keyblade!_

I knew about the keyblade. Everyone in the underworld did. They said that someone had been chosen by the keyblade recently that was in the underworld, but no one knew who. Was this boy from the underworld? _No, he's too innocent and carefree. Besides, no one who looked like him would still be alive today around there._

I watched as he struck the blade through the creature, and watched as it disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Before I could say anything, three more creatures appeared, coming towards us, advancing. For a moment, Sora looked at me with sudden fear, but then I leaped as far as I could, and found myself standing a mere two feet from him. I turned, guarding the way to him.

"What are you doing?" he asked warily, and I turned my head slightly.

"Protecting you," I hissed. "I won't let you get in trouble because of me. These creatures were sent for me, not you." Or at least I hoped they were. An overwhelming need to protect this boy who I only knew the name of was running through me. We had exchanged only a few words, and had only known that either of us existed for a mere half an hour to an hour, but that didn't seem to matter. Something was kicking in, something that I had never felt, but for some reason it felt right.

As soon as the words left my mouth, something very odd happened. I could almost feel an invisible force pulling down on my hand, and the next second I was looking down at a blade much like the one that I once owned long ago. Painful memories began to pound at the back of my head, but I ignored them as I readied my sword. it was actually a katana, long and thin but able to cut through diamond. I didn't care where it came from, I needed it.

In seconds all three beasts were gone. When I turned to look at Sora, he was gaping at me, and then suddenly he reached forward. "Look out!" he called, and I turned just in time to miss a sharp blow from a long, thin white blade. It came from something that looked similar to the first creature, but had no apparent shape. It made itself into any kind of blade it wanted, its shape shifting as it readied to attack me once again. I scoffed, slicing it in half. I heard a grunt behind me and turned to find Sora also fighting.

I was about to help him when five more of the first creatures appeared, and two more of the new ones. I groaned, and noticed that Donald and Goofy were now helping Sora. I supposed that would have to do for now, and I sliced through each of my opponents. Every single time I made another one disperse, I glanced at the Trio to see how they were doing.

Sora was a skilled fighter, I would give him that.

Every time I thought the creatures were gone, more would come. After we got rid of one batch, another batch would appear two times the size of the first. Soon, the entire plaza was covered. I cursed loudly, causing a slight distraction to the Trio, and closed my eyes. I could already feel the shudders of power running through me.

Before I could let it completely control me, I heard three very loud cheers and turned to find Sora, Donald and Goofy all laying on the ground in exhaustion but wearing happy faces. When I turned back around, I saw a small figure with rounded ears on top of his head covered by a black hood belonging to a very familiar black cloak. He was striking down all of the creatures, and when he stopped no more came.

I didn't say anything as Sora, Donald and Goofy all stood and went straight to the small mouse-like figure. How many human-animals could there be? Obviously very, very many.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy," The figure spoke in a squeaky, mouse-like voice.

"King Mickey, ehyuk!" Goofy exclaimed, bowing. Sora stood with his hands behind his head and an ecstatic grin on his face, and Donald was also bowing. King Mickey.

"Boys, take this and go on the train. It will take you where you need to go," the mouse said. His eyes strayed towards me, and he gave a slight exclamation. "I didn't know you would be involved so quickly!

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was still clutching my katana, and I felt my grip loosening on it slightly as I realized this mouse meant no harm. I still wondered why he wore the black cloak.

"This place isn't safe. I promise all questions will be answered eventually, but for now you _must_ protect Sora," the supposed king said. I blinked in surprise and watched as he approached me. "Your role in his story is more important than any one else's. When you arrive where you need to go, it will be explained."

"Why can't I just be told here?" I asked. My patience was thinning.

"It isn't safe." The mouse repeated, and I sighed in frustration. My day was spent, and I wasn't sure how much more I could handle of all of this. I went from curious to raving mad within an hour. Had I really only waken up an hour ago?

"Then one more question," I whispered. "How long…?" he seemed to understand, and gave me a small, mousy smile.

"It's only been a year." He said, and then disappeared. As he fled down the street, Sora gave a low whistle.

"That means I'm fifteen now," he said with a grin. I sighed, rolling my eyes as I headed towards the station's doors.

"Listen, until I get some answers I'm stuck with you. Understand?" I snapped, and Sora stood straight. He saluted me, and I rolled my eyes. "Don't be so cheeky, it'll get you into trouble one day." I muttered, walking into the station. "Hurry up."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sora called, running after me. I lead them to the desk where you paid for tickets, but before I could figure out how to pay an apparent 5000 munny the three kids I had seen behind Sora were now approaching him, out of breath from running.

"Wait! We wanted to see you off!" The girl cried, and I looked at her reproachfully. The two boys nodded in agreement, and I stepped forward.

"I'll leave you to your goodbyes, but first…could you tell me what munny is?" I asked. The girl seemed to giggled, and then pulled out a coin.

"This is munny. Do you need munny?" She asked. Sora pulled out whatever the king had handed to him, which turned out to be a small bag that was filled to the brim. When he opened it, he pulled out a coin exactly like the girl's.

"I think we have enough," he mumbled. I took the bag from him, not bothering to ask for permission, and brought it to the desk. A couple minute later and I had three tickets, and the bag back. There was still stuff inside, but I ignored it. Instead, I turned to the group that was now conversing about how that bag was unbelievably similar to the girl's homemade bag, and I sighed as I waited for them to finish.

When they did finish, Sora gave me a sheepish grin and walked up the steps. Donald and Goody followed closely behind, and we all headed for the train. When we reached it, Sora paused and looked over at me with a curious glance. I wondered what he was thinking.

"Are you sure you're okay being stuck with us?" he asked.

"I have no other choice. I feel like I need to protect you for some reason, and I need my answers from _somewhere_. That mouse you call a king seemed pretty confident that I would get them when we reach the next stop. So until then, I guess you're just stuck with me." I gave a sarcastic grin, and then sighed. It would take me a couple of days to get back to my old self.

"Yeah, alright," Sora gave me another grin, and then stepped onto the train. He turned again. "I hope that we can get to know each other a little better, too." I winced, hoping he didn't mean that to too much of an extent, and followed him on the train. Right now, I wasn't sure if even I knew myself.

A year of dreaming, of being someone human and with feelings, who had spunk and attitude, had obviously worn off on me. I couldn't remember a single part of the dream, but I shrugged it off. It shouldn't take too long before I was back to my old self; cool and logical, never joking or acting before thinking.

Maybe I could put my past self behind me now, and instead become someone less guarded. Maybe this was the beginning to that.

End Chapter


	2. A Separation From Myself

DESCRIPTION OF SORA'S CLOTHING LATER ON

Okay, so I don't think people like this story. Oh well. I'll post anyways. I feel like posting this story. The chapters will be pretty long, so expect a nice long story of nuisances. Ja.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 2: A Separation From Myself

The inside of the train was blue, with a cushioned bench on either wall. I didn't bother looking to see if Goofy and Donald had followed me, and went straight for the end of the train. I plopped myself on the bench, slowly lying down. I was savoring the feeling of being able to lay down. Heaven knows how long it had been since I had truly lain down. I chuckled to myself at the thought of heaven.

I could hear Sora, Donald and Goofy talking on the other side of the train. It wasn't long before we started moving, and I found myself lulling into a deep haze. I couldn't sleep, technically. Vampires were never aloud to truly sleep. Somehow, that flower I had been inside of was able to break those rules, which I was thankful for. A good year's rest was nice, after living for such a long time without a wink of it.

The time was spent with memories, painful and happy. One moment I was remembering the fresh breeze of the sea at midnight, standing with no shoes on in the sand while looking high into the stars, and then I was thinking of the fight where I had lost my katana. It had been quick. They had sapped it in half with their hands, being younger and stronger than I was. Younger vampires were always stronger during the first year. They still had their own blood inside of them.

After going through that memory, I was standing at my mother's grave, a single dead rose in my hand. I knelt down and placed the rose softly on the top of the grave, and stroked her name. Then I was watching as my creator showed me how to hunt my prey. Then I was facing my most miserable, most painful memory.

I was watching myself as I hunted my best friend. I hunted her down, I pounced on her, and then I killed her. Or at least…that's what was supposed to happen. As soon as I had realized what I had done, I had pulled away and ran. I wasn't sure if the scream I heard had erupted from her lips, or from someone else's as they found her. I never took the time to find out.

My eyes opened when I felt someone sitting by my feet. I looked down, and found a sideways Sora. I sat up, so that he was right-side-up, and frowned. "Is something wrong?" I asked. He looked at me, and blushed.

"Sorry if I disturbed you," he mumbled. I shrugged out of my stupor and stat up completely, crossing my legs.

"No problem, really. You just saved me from past recollections," I said with a small grimace. Sora looked at me in slight surprise, but then looked back down at the floor. I furrowed my brow in suspicion and confusion. "You have something to ask, right?" Sora looked up, surprised.

"How did you-?" he began. I shook my head softly, rubbing my eyes.

"Just your expression. You're thoughtful, and you don't seem like the kind of person who would be this thoughtful unless they needed something answered. I have plenty of experience in reading people. After all…you sort of get used to it, after so many years…" my voice went to a whisper, and I stared out the window that was beside me.

"Sorry," Sora uttered at once. I looked at him in surprise. "Ah, for bringing up something painful. You got kind of sad when you said that. Actually, my questions were sort of about you." He admitted, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Well, I was wondering. Do you…come from the Greek underworld, under the rule of Hades?" He asked. I stared at him for a long moment, before I burst out laughing.

"Good lord, no!" I gasped out. "That phony little critter only takes care of the dead human souls. He deals with nothing. No, I come from a different underworld. Actually, calling it an underworld is just a nickname for the place. It's a city. Full of dark people, creatures you only read about in mysteries and horrors, and only see in the really gruesome movies. The humans there may as well be just as dark as those creatures. My underworld is a horrid place, with nothing good about it. There are very few people you can trust that aren't the same race as you, and only a few more that _are_ your race."

"Sounds kinda gruesome…" Sora mumbled, his face scrunching up as he thought of the place. I chuckled.

"I wouldn't suggest going over there. All that innocence of yours would vanish in an instant." I said, and sighed. "You really are innocent, you know? Maybe too innocent for your own good."

"I've had my fare share of experience, saving the worlds and creating peace through the borders again…" Sora muttered, once again blushing. I smiled softly.

"Yeah, the great keyblade wielder. Stories traveled about you throughout the city back then. I'm surprised it's someone like you who did all that. I guess, in the end, it was _because_ you're so innocent." I mumbled, and frowned. Sora chuckled nervously, the blush deepening. After a moment, when the blush had disappeared and Sora seemed a little more at ease, he asked another question.

"How old are you?" He asked, and I looked at him. It was my turn to blush, if I could. No blood ran through my veins, so to have it suddenly rushing to my cheeks would be impossible. Instead, I fidgeted slightly nervously.

"You sure you want to know?" I asked, and Sora paused for a second, then he grinned, and nodded. He was too eager, I decided. He probably rushed into everything he did. I groaned, and bit my lip, I did that when I was nervous, to substitute for blushing. "God, now I feel so old…I'm 213…well, actually, 214 now."

"Are you…really…?" Sora looked ready to faint as he stared at me in amazement. I gave a brief grin. He suddenly composed himself, and gave me a very serious look. "You honestly don't look a day over sixteen." This irked me. My eyebrow twitched, and I ground my teeth. He seemed to notice my agitation.

"I was fifteen…" I whispered, and Sora blushed.

"Sorry," he mumbled. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I suppose it can't be helped. Everyone says I look older than I really am." At this, I chuckled. "I mean…in vampire terms."

"Ah, right," Sora was once again scratching the back of his head nervously. I watched him, as he dropped his hand and stared hard at the floor, looking nowhere else. He seemed almost too concentrated on staring at the floor, like he was trying to make it seem he was just observing the patterns. However, the way his neck was straining from the pressure, and his brows were furrowed, he only looked comical.

"You have more to ask?" I mumbled, and he sighed out. Automatically, he relaxed, and I twitched. "I didn't mean create a mantra," I muttered as he closed his eyes in sudden peace. He opened his eyes slowly, staring at the ceiling, and for a moment he looked like he could have seen more than he had ever let on. He was suffering inside, and he wasn't letting anyone know. I wondered how hard it was for him, a mortal with no secure mask that he had been working on for years and years.

"I can't help but feel…like I'll never see that town again," he whispered. I shook my head softly.

"It's not like it's just going to be up and gone, Sora." When I uttered his name, he seemed to blush again.

"It's just, I feel like there's something missing, like I should have known where I was and who those people were, and where and why I was going. Like…I had already been there, you know?" he seemed almost lost, and I had the sudden urge to comfort him. So I did, to the best of my abilities.

"Some people believe that they used to exist in a different time, a different life. You know, with no real recollections, but then you suddenly get this feeling like you've been somewhere before when you had never even heard of it in your current life." I shrugged. "There's always a possibility. Personally, I don't follow any religion. It's not like it'll help me. I'm damned to this life for eternity."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with such a burden," Sora mumbled, and I laughed softly. It was a dry, sad laugh.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. It's not like it's your fault." I whispered, and brought my knees to my chest.

"I'm really not a child anymore," Sora said, grim. "I'm strong. I'm experienced. I know to you, my age is like nothing, but I do know a lot. I could tell you everything about Destiny Islands, about the king, and heartless and battle strategies and…" he stopped, and I noticed tears gathering. I stared at him in both wonder and shock, and was suddenly on my knees in front of him. I was just in time for the first tear to fall.

My finger caught it gently, and I bright it to my face. It was a curious thing, a tear. I wasn't sure if a vampire could cry, but I knew that ever since I was changed I had never cried once. I had never felt the need. Now I was curious. What was Sora feeling right now that caused these tears? Was it pain and sadness, or was it just frustration? Or was it both?

"You shouldn't cry, silly," I whispered, and licked the tear off my finger. It was salty. "That's the sign of a kid," I winked, and sat back down in a flash. My speed seemed to surprise him, because it was a moment before he caught his bearings again.

"Saku was your name, right?" he whispered, and I fidgeted.

"Actually…I was lying." I muttered. "I wasn't sure if I could trust you. I'm still not fully sure, but I guess I have no choice in the matter right now."

"So what's your actual name?" Sora asked. He didn't seem affected by the fact that I hadn't told him my real name.

"It's Kiera." I mumbled, and bit my lip again. Sora smiled softly, and leaned back on the bench. His head rested against the window.

"That's a pretty name. Suits you, you know," he murmured softly. I laughed again, and wondered how many times I would laugh in his presence. I hoped it would be a lot, with plenty of good memories and smiles. For some reason, I felt this boy deserved that much.

"So, got any girlfriends?" I asked randomly. The question had popped into my head as I tried to think of a conversation starter. Sora blushed.

"No…" he mumbled, trailing off. I stared at him, studying the way he reacted. I could see a hint of a smile on his face.

"But you like someone," I guessed. He looked at me, suddenly sheepish.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that…" he said, and then looked out the window on the opposite end with a faraway look. He was frowning, as if trying hard either not to remember something, or to remember something very far off.

"She's important to you, though. You miss her." I stated simply. He sighed, and gave another of his sheepish grins.

"Yeah. I made a promise that I'd come back to her, no matter what…" he mumbled. I sighed, and reached forward to ruffle his hair.

"You shouldn't make promises like that, you know. That girl could be sitting there everyday, not eating, not sleeping, waiting for your return…" I was whispering, but I felt like making myself invisible and wished I'd never said those words.

"That happened to you?" Sora guessed, and I looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, sort of," I mumbled. "Except, it wasn't over a guy…" at this, Sora seemed to blush. I realized what he had just assumed, and rolled my eyes. "Even if I did like girls, there shouldn't be any problem with that. But no, I'm not attracted to girls. She was my sister, she promised me she would come back in a week…"

Sora stared at me, embarrassed but interested. I stared at him for a long time, deciding on how deep into this conversation I would get. I decided that, since I would probably never see the kid again, I would let him into my mind for a little while.

"I waited a year, never eating, drinking or sleeping. I only ate enough and drank enough to stay alive. Not like it mattered. I don't think she ever came back. Anyways, exactly a year later, my creator found me. He made me into what I am today, and now here I am as a vampire when I should be six feet under with a pretty grave stone." I shrugged, and closed my eyes softly. Sora gave an audible gasp, and I smiled. "No worries. I ended up forgetting about trivial things like grudges and hatred after a hundred years or so." Even as I said it, I could hear the bitter tone I was using.

"Sorry…" Sora muttered once again. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I already told you, there's no point in saying sorry. None of it was your fault." I paused, and then looked at him. He still looked deep in thought. How many things did this kid have on his mind? "So, anything else?" I hinted, and Sora looked up at me, a little surprised, then smiled gently.

"Sort of. I was just…hoping I would be able to find my friend. Riku." He shrugged with a small frown. "He went to the other side with the king, but if the king is here…then that must mean Riku is here too. I didn't ask the king back on the plaza, but I know he has to be here somewhere. I have to find him. I have to…" he trailed off, and I knew he was unsure of what he had to do. "I guess, I have to finally win in that sword fight."

"Rivalry, huh? He was the kid who beat you at everything, but was your absolute best friend?" I asked, and Sora shrugged.

"Yeah. He's a year older than me, so I never complained or thought I was weak. But still…it would be nice to win, just once." Sora seemed slightly depressed, and I ruffled his hair again.

"Don't worry about it, kid. You'll find him somewhere on this journey." As if responding to my words, the train came to a stop. Sora and I both tumbled over slightly from the unexpected jolt, and then straightened ourselves and stood. Goofy and Donald, who had fallen asleep, were now on the floor and untwisting themselves.

We got off the train as the door slid open, and we found ourselves on a small, floating island with a crooked castle on it. at the door, someone was banging. As we got closer, not bothering to watch the train leave, Donald and Goofy both gasped. "That's Stinky Pete!" They both said at the same time. I looked at the fat dog figure, who was wearing a type of expensive armor and clothes that seemed to barely fit him.

"Funny looking guy, huh?" I muttered to Sora, who broke out in a grin. We approached the huge dog, and I began to play with my nails as Donald and Goofy confronted him. I listened, but barely. My thoughts were on my conversation with Sora. Only one thing caught my attention. He said he was creating an army of heartless.

"Aren't heartless…things that come out of people who have darkness in their hearts or something?" I mumbled to Sora, who gave a small nod. He had just been pulling at my shorts, which made me laugh. "Let's hope this guy has something in his wardrobe for you, huh?"

"Heh…yeah," Sora mumbled with a blush. However, before we could continue with what seemed to be the start of a friendship, five creatures appeared. Each of them were the same, shadowy creature that crouched low even though it was already small. All that could truly be distinguished in their features were two glowing yellow eyes.

"Ugh. Do we constantly have to fight?" I muttered to myself. I readied myself, flexing my fingers. I tried to strike through one of them, but my hand just went through it. I stared in shock, and backed away with wide eyes. Why hadn't it worked? Why couldn't I hurt them? I looked over at Sora, who now had the keyblade, and watched as he easily struck through them, and as Goofy and Donald defeated their own enemies. I sat there, stumped and confused for the second time that day.

Eventually, the creatures stopped coming. The huge dog, Stinky Pete, was grumbling to himself as he ran down the steps. "Just you wait! I'll come back with more!" He called, and I watched him leave. I barely noticed as Sora came up in front of me with a concerned look on face, and didn't really respond as he held out a hand.

"Kiera, please!" His yell woke me from my stupor, and I looked up at him blurrily. The expression of concern intensified, and I tried to give a weak laugh as I stood with one fluid movement. Sora was still looking at me with concern as I began to step forwards, towards the double doors. Before I could start going up the steps, a hand gently laid itself on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…fine…I'm just going to need some answers is all." I mumbled. My mind wandered back to the white creatures. I had been able to strike through them with my fists, but yet I found myself helpless with tiny little shadow creatures.

"Those were heartless," Sora explained. "You can't strike through them unless you possess magic, or wield the keyblade." I looked at him with a frown, wondering how he had guessed. He gave me a small smirk. "I know what it feels like to not be able to strike through them. It was before I knew how to summon the keyblade."

"Right…" I mumbled. "Well, let's get going then. I don't want to waste any time." Sora gave affirm nod, and he and Donald and Goofy followed me up the steps. Donald and Goofy were both whispering to each other about something, and I glanced back at them suspiciously. They both straightened, trying to give me an innocent look. I gave a brief glare before turning back to open the doors.

Inside, Donald and Goofy both called for attention. We turned around to listen to them. "We have to be very careful. Pete said that there were Heartless in here, so be on your guard Sora! Also, Master Yen Sid lives here!" Donald quacked, and I winced. What would I do? I couldn't protect any of them, let alone myself, and Donald seemed to make that clear by not mentioning me. I didn't bother with asking who Yen Sid was, because I didn't really care.

So I went ahead of them. I didn't bother waiting to see if they would protest or follow, and began to climb the long spiraling steps. As we walked up the steps, Sora held the keyblade at the ready for anything. Heartless did show up, only two, before we reached a door that lead to a small platform.

Whoever lived here must have been magic, because the whole place looked like it was floating on nothing, with stars everywhere. Just as I was about to head across the platform the door ahead, Sora held me back. Heartless were appearing, blocking our way. I hissed, standing aside and watching them fight.

When the heartless were gone, I went straight for the door grumbling to myself. Not being able to defend myself bothered me greatly, and the three companions seemed to notice this. Behind the door was yet another staircase, also looking like it was floating in space. I grimaced, and Sora held me back.

"You shouldn't walk in front of us. You could get hurt." He said, giving a brief grin. I scoffed, but let him go in front of me.

"Vampires can't get hurt. Not many things can kill us." I replied curtly, and held out my hand. "Our skin is like marble, and no blood flows through us. You'd have to be another vampire, or some other hideous creature just as formidable, to do any sort of harm on me. These creatures can do nothing. I'm only humoring you."

"Alright." Sora said, grinning. "Let's go." So we did. We headed up the path, and when I looked to the side I could see the staircase we had went up originally. This must have been the last staircase. Only a few heartless appeared this time, as if they were slowly wearing down. When we got to the door though, Sora looked a little tired. I nudged him, giving him a small smile.

"Come on, you only woke up what must have been four hours ago," I said. "Can't be tired already."

"Sorry," he mumbled. I blinked, confused.

"You've gotta stop saying sorry. We're going to practice on that, alright?" I said, just as Donald and goofy opened the doors and stepped through. As we followed them, they suddenly stood rigid at attention, Sora and I leaning back to see what the deal was. I looked up to find an old man wearing a wizard had and a blue robe. _Classical,_ I thought.

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald quacked. Sora gave a short wave with a quick "Hi there", and I just gave a grim smile before studying the room. I could almost feel magic running through me. Donald looked at both of us, glaring. "Show some respect to the master!" however, the old man waved it off and folded his hands together, resting his chin on his knuckles.

"So this is Sora?" he asked, and the boy gave a small grin with a scratch of his head. The old man's voice was scratchy, old, and aged. It was easy to tell he had seen a great deal, and knew a great deal. "Have you seen the king yet?" he asked, looked at Donald and Goofy.

"Yes, master, but he was in a rush." Goofy said, and Yen Sid gave a small nod of understanding.

"Yes, the king has been quite busy as of late. It would seem, then, that the task of instructing you lies upon my shoulders." Yen Sid leaned back, and his gaze lifted to mine. He hadn't acknowledged me until then, but his eyes simply went back to Sora as if he hadn't seen me. I wasn't sure if I should have felt offended. "You have a perilous journey ahead of you, and you must be well prepared."

"So we have to go on another quest?" Sora asked, his face falling. It looked like he would have cried if he could. I nudged him lightly, encouraging him. He looked at me and I gave him a small wink. His only reply was a half-hearted smile. "I was hoping I could find my friend Riku, so we could go back to the islands." He admitted, shrugging.

"Whether you will find Riku, find heartless, or find nothing, your journey depends on you. You, Sora, are the key. The chosen wielder of the keyblade." Yen Sid stated, and Sora looked bewildered. As if to answer his statement, Sora held out his hand and the keyblade appeared in a light flash, blowing his hair back briefly. Yen Sid nodded, as if in approval. Finally, his eyes rested on me and did not move. "I wish to speak with you alone."

"Why?" I mumbled, crossing my arms and leaning against a bookshelf. I refused to be polite for an old man who seemed to think very highly of himself, and it seemed that he had a way of making other people think highly of him as well. He was old, and powerful, wise, someone that took time to trust. Sora I had unknowingly trusted right from the start. He was that kind of person. Was I?

"We have matters to discuss. Questions you wish to be answered. Sora, there are three fairies in the other room who will help prepare you for your journey and give you much more suitable clothing. As you are doing this, I will take the time to talk with this young lady." I twitched, raising an eyebrow. He didn't bother correcting himself. "First, we must discuss your enemies."

Beside us, a light flashed and we found ourselves looking at transparent white figures, the ones who had attacked us at the plaza. "These are nobodies. At times, when a strong heart, whether evil or good, turns to a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own. It is an empty vessel, a spirit that goes on. Even when they fade from existence. Nobodies do not truly exist at all."

The image changed to Donald, and the actual duck gave a small quack of shock. "You must also be aware of yourselves, for one such as you, Donald, may turn into a heartless." As he said this, Donald faded slowly into the impish black creature. "You must not wield to the darkness in your heart. This, of course, leads us to the enemy that you all know. The Heartless, the ones who have dwindled in numbers but will never truly be gone until all of the darkness is gone from everyone's hearts. As long as darkness is there, Heartless can and will exist.

"There is one more enemy that you must know about," Yen Sid said, and the projection faded to reveal another one. A figure clad in a black cloak, face shrouded by the hood. "Organization XIII, a group of organized, thoughtful Nobodies who have taken a completely human shape. They will be your most formidable foe, as well as always there to cause trouble. They are a special kind of Nobody, a rare kind, where they can think completely for themselves and plan and organize. They take control over other Nobodies, considering themselves their leaders. You will learn more of them in your journey." My teeth ground as I looked at the figure, and my fists clenched.

"As you well know, there are many different shapes and forms these enemies will have. The further along in your journey, the stronger and more formidable they are." The image disappeared, and I looked grimly at Yen Sid. I was tired of his droning. It took him forever to speak, and I was becoming impatient for my answers. At the same time, Sora pulled down on his pants. "Ah, yes. I will leave you, Sora, to get your new clothing. Donald, Goofy, please accompany him. This requires a private audience."

"See ya later," Sora said cheerfully as he waved to me, and then disappeared behind a small wooden door that had been hidden by the projections. As soon as Donald's tail had disappeared behind the door, I swung my head to look inquiringly at Yen Sid. He was once again resting his chins on his long, bony hands.

"You have a great many questions," he stated, "But you must choose which ones wisely. You only have so long before Sora comes back out and your journey begins."

"_My _journey?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes. he said nothing, and I breathed slowly. I chose my first question, the one that was most obvious and had been bugging me since we arrived. "Why can't I strike them down? Why could I dispose of the Nobodies, but not the Heartless?"

"Ah, but the reason you struck down those first Nobodies in the presence of Axle was because you wished to _protect_. The same happened on the plaza. Outside just now, you only felt smug and sure of yourself." His voice was slow, and I stared at him in disbelief.

"So I'm supposed to want to protect Sora?" I asked, crossing my arms. "The kid can take care of himself. He doesn't need my help."

"Sora needs your help more than you know," Yen Sid droned. "Your destiny is to protect him as he continues his journey through this. As you are a thing of darkness yourself, there is no need to worry about such enemies as he does. You are to protect the light in his heart. This journey is as much yours as it is his, however. You must discover these things for yourself."

"But it still doesn't make sense. Why can't I kill them?" I was growling low. Suddenly, my yes went wide. _You can't strike through them unless you possess magic, or wield the keyblade_. Wasn't that what Sora had said? You needed power, magic… "The blade that showed up in my hands on the plaza…what was it?"

"It was the keyblade. You are the keyblade's chosen guardian. It is only a very faint legend that such a thing exists, and the last guardian was thousands of years ago, yet there is a new guardian as we now face a much more perilous journey than we have in centuries." Yen Sid was finally starting to make more sense, and I suddenly found myself stretching my hand as if willing the blade to appear. Surprisingly, it did. "It doesn't take long to catch onto these things." He noted.

"So, I have to follow around some kid and his two helpers as he tries to save the world? Why does that sound so dramatically cheesy?" I sighed, looking down at the blade, then closed my eyes. In a flash, the blade was gone.

"To put it in your words, yes." Yen Sid almost seemed amused, and then his face turned serious again. "You have lived for a great many years, vampire Kiera. Yet you show the knowledge of a child." This struck home, and I looked to the side bitterly.

"I guess I just liked being a child. The personality stuck with me, always hidden. That sleep I had, that was a year long…I think that was what caused it to come back." I admitted. The great many years I had lived were just faint memories now, something I was ignoring as I attempted something like a new life. "I think that being around human emotions as soon as I woke up from what would seem like such a long rest is was really caused it."

"Wise words, but only to be expected. Young child, and yes you are still quite young, you must trust in this journey to help you along. You cannot let your mind tell you that you are an emotionless soul, something that does not feel. An immortal can feel just as much as a mortal. Remember that." Nothing more was said, because Sora suddenly burst through the doors looking very proud.

And I could immediately tell why. Much to my embarrassment, I had to admit he looked good. Even Yen Sid had a secretive smile. Sora now wore a black, short sleeved sweater with white hemming and metal shoulder pads, with yellow straps on the shoulders, and a pair of fingerless gloves with white crisscross on them and steel knuckles that looked almost too large for his soft hands. A blue shirt with red pockets was underneath the opened sweater, and his chain necklace with the crown attached was still there. He had two attached red pockets, jeans shorts with black covering, and yellow with black boots. All in all, the outfit was pretty cute. They fit perfectly, just baggy enough to make him look like he was sinking in them, but still tight enough that showed he was tall and proud. In fact, he was an inch or two taller than myself.

I whistled low to show I was impressed, and Sora gave a light blush. "They were making a commotion about the whole thing and wouldn't decide. I think I surprised them when I told them to get on with it."

"Ah yes. Fairies are argumentative aren't they?" Yen Sid said, and then looked at me once more. His eyes seemed to be saying something, but I couldn't understand what. When he turned back to Sora, he suddenly waved at the window. "I have one more thing for you, before you leave. I think you will rather like this gift."

Outside, an orange, ship-like figure appeared, and what looked like two chipmunks. They both waved, and Sora, Donald and Goofy all cheered. "The Gummi Ship!" Donald cried out, and I looked at Sora.

"We use it to travel from world to world," he explained. I nodded, and then looked over at Yen Sid. He was now standing, going over to the window.

"The paths to each world have disappeared, since after your endeavors they have returned to their original state." This caused a few groans, but Yen Sid just waved his hands. "Not to fear, because if what the king suspects is true, then the worlds have prepared new pathways to which you can travel. At each world there will be a gate which you must pass first before arriving there."

"So we can go now?" Sora asked, over eager. I rolled my eyes, and placed a hand on top of his head. He looked at me sheepishly.

"One more thing," Yen Sid continued. "When you reach each world, whenever your keyblade glows you shall return to your Gummi Ship. The keyblade will guide you on this quest. When and where this will happen I do not know, but trust in the keyblade.

"Remember all that has been said, and remember that each world only brings you closer to what you are searching for." Yen Sid said, and we all gave a small nod. As Sora, Donald and Goofy all climbed aboard the Gummi Ship and talked with the two chipmunks-I barely heard them say their names were Chip and Dayle-I stayed behind to say one last thing.

"You know, you're not so bad. You should work on that scowl of yours, though." I winked, and then sighed. "Thanks…Master Yen Sid. The blessings of a vampire befalls you, and may you use this well." It was a blessing, something very powerful and that could only be used once. Whatever it was used for, it would work so long as you desperately needed it. It was the greatest gift, and kindest, a vampire could ever give. There was only one above it, but it was a horrid, dreadful thing. Something I never wished to even think of.

I climbed aboard the Gummi Ship, leaving a very happy, old wizard behind. I wondered how long it had been since he had smiled like that.

End Chapter


	3. Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

To all wondering: It doesn't necessarily matter how many years she lived, she's still only a teenager in her human instincts, and her knowledge of many different things. Kiera is a very…experienced vampire, in ways of war and such, but that's all she knows, and is still learning a great deal in this story, though she has a much higher understanding of it than most would…

Chapter 3: Hollow Bastion Committee

The ride in the Gummi Trip was long, and when we reached the world, which had no gate, we paused. The entire trip had been perilous for me, and I found myself recalling it.

Sora sat beside me as we strapped into the seats, but I kept my eyes closed the whole time. I had never been fond of flying at shooting. I had experienced it before, and I would have thrown up if possible. Too many twists and turns as you dodged. I barely felt them when I closed my eyes, so I didn't care if anyone made fun of me.

The trip seemed like hours as I tried to think of something other than the little laser bullets I could hear coming out of the ship. My mind brought me back to my conversation with Yen Sid, and what he had said about me being Sora's protector, or guardian. When I had suddenly made the katana appear in my hand, I started believing him. Yet I couldn't bring myself to believing that this kid was someone I was supposed to protect.

I decided I may as well stick to my responsibilities, not admitting to myself that I liked the change in atmosphere when I was around him. I told myself that, after two hundred years, it would be nice to have some excitement. And it _would_ be nice. My whole life, both mortal and immortal, was just a dull monotone. The only reason anything exciting happened was because it was forced upon us in dark and twisted ways. I was tired of the dark, of knowing too much and seeing too much. I wanted to be on this journey, where I could put in my advice but not have to see anything nearly as gruesome as anything I myself had ever done.

Then a horrible thought flitted through my mind; what if we went to my world? I hadn't bothered asking what anyone meant by there being worlds to travel to. I had already known there were many different worlds out there. Happier ones, where they most likely thought the problems that they had were the most perilous possible. If only they could see where I lived. If only everyone knew how well off they were, and what great lives they really had. But they didn't even know such evil places existed.

The Gummi Ship had to a sudden stop, when I had opened my eyes. Sora was un-strapping himself, and I quickly followed suit. He led me to something that looked suspiciously like a teleporter, though not as complicated as the one from the old mansion. I wondered briefly how long it had been since we had woken up now.

As we stepped onto the device, it seemed a little crowded. The beam was quick, and I barely saw us zooming past birds and clouds until we came to a soft landing on a bunch of brick pavement. We were on a wall of sorts, and when I looked to the side, a large and ugly looking castle with many old-looking things attached to it stood large and slightly frightening to have so near yet so far.

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked confused for a moment, before they all got the same look of dawning on them, like a light bulb had switched on in their heads. "It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora chimed, and Donald blinked before leaning back.

"It sure looks different," he said, crossing his arms and looking like a buyer examining a piece of art.

"Gawrsh, I sure hope Leon and the gang are doing okay!" Goofy said, and Sora leaned back in slight relaxation. I looked up, and spotted two creatures who looked suspiciously like Heartless on a roof. I pointed.

"Looks like they're here, too," I said. Then I looked at Sora. "Who's Leon?"

"A friend of our, from the last journey." Sora said with a small smile. "It's been a year…I wonder how they all are."

"Come on! Let's go!" Donald cried, and waved us forward. Donald and Goofy went ahead, but Sora went slowly. With my new responsibilities in mind, I found myself not wanting to let him out of my sight. I damned the old man for making me paranoid. Since when did I bother looking out for anybody? Just because a few words were said didn't mean I had to believe them.

_Yes you do. You felt the need to protect him ever since you first saw his smile. _I though to myself, and sighed. Sora glanced at me, curious, and I just waved it off. "What's wrong?" I asked, and Sora frowned.

"I don't like how perceptive you are…" he muttered. "I can't hide anything."

"That's my job," I said with a wink. Sora frowned.

"What _is_ your job? I've been wanting to ask you since I came into the room with my new clothes." Sora was searching my face, as if expecting me to show my emotions and secrets for everyone to see. What a strange boy, I decided. Why would I do that? "Why are you still…here with us? Why did you decide to travel with us?"

I was silent for a long time, wondering if I should tell him. Finally, I let out an exasperated sigh and passed my hand along my face. "Honestly, it's because I believe the old man. How could I not? Everything that's happened, everything I've felt…what he said seems like the only explanation." When I looked at Sora, he seemed more confused than before. I smiled. "He said that my destiny, my responsibility, the reason I'm here…it's to protect you. I'm your guardian, your protector, and also a keyblade wielder."

At my words, the katana appeared in my hands, and I showed him. Sora stared at it for a while, before shaking his head in confusion. "It looks different from any keyblade I've seen before. I've never even seen that kind of blade before."

"It's called a katana. It can cut through diamond it's so strong. Some say it's because there's diamond inside of it. A katana is a sword that was originally used by samurai, or at least I think it was. I'm not _that_ old…" I frowned at the thought of being five hundred years old. One day, I would be that old.

"Diamond…isn't that supposed to be the strongest rock?" Sora frowned slightly, and I smiled.

"In a way. I bet there's a lot of rocks out there that are stronger, they just haven't been found yet." I was glad he didn't ask me about my being his guardian. I didn't dare press the matter, because I myself didn't even understand it. How would I answer any of _his_ questions, which were probably far more complicated than my own?

_I guess all questions are answered in time._ I decided. "What else…did he say?" Sora whispered. I looked at him, studied his face, and saw worry. I frowned, confused.

"What are you worried about?" I asked. Sora laughed nervously, and then stared up at the sky.

"Did he…say anything about me? About this journey?" his head didn't move, but his eyes did. He looked at me, but head still raised high.

"No. Nothing. He only answered my questions to the best of his abilities." I shrugged, and then followed his gaze to the sky. It was a clear day in this world, cloudy but clear. The sun was nowhere in sight, the clouds covered every inch of the sky. "You know, I prefer days like these. I fit in more. Whether it's my world, or any other world. I can always feel better on days like these."

"Why's that?" Sora asked.

"Because…" I paused, looking back at the sidewalk. "The temperature is neutral, and I don't have to try and feel the warmth."

"You…can't feel the warmth?" Sora asked, and I looked at him.

"Nope. Vampire thing." I winked, and then turned back to watching the road. It seemed a good enough conversation closer, and Sora said nothing more. Without realizing it, we had walked through the whole square where the shops were, and I accidentally walked into Donald. He was talking to a duck who wore a top hat and a monocle, with a black tail coat and a red vest underneath. They must be related.

"This is my Uncle Scrooge!" Donald quacked, and I looked at the old duck standing across from us. He looked depressed.

"I've been trying to make the perfect ice-cream, but it just doesn't seem to taste the way I want it to…" he took a lick of an ice-cream bar he was holding, and his face scrunched up, if that were possible. "Yuck, disgusting!" he muttered. I held back a smile and watched as he turned his back on us without saying goodbye. We continued walking, finding ourselves walking down a set of steps and under a large archway. Sora, Donald and Goofy paused, as if deciding where they needed to go next, when a strange orb formed with a cylinder around it, and then rolled a bit of way just to disappear again. The same thing was happening everywhere else, too.

"What's this?" Donald asked, and a voice from above answered.

"That's the town's new defense mechanism!" The feminine voice called, and I looked up. A girl stood there, wearing a pair of beige mini shorts and a black tank top, with shoes that went to a few inches below her knees. She had shuriken everywhere on her body, and her hair was short, black and tied into a small ponytail. She had a black bandana wrapped around her forehead.

"Yuffie!" Sora called, grinning. I glanced at him, and then back up at the rather small looking girl. She gave a short jump, and then cried "Look out!" Immediately, I was on guard.

Everywhere around us were Nobodies, and I rolled my eyes. "We have guests greeting us front, right, and center, don't we?" I muttered, and my katana formed in my hands. "I'll handle this."

"You sure?" Sora asked. He already had the keyblade in his hands. I nodded, grinning.

"I was feeling left out not being able to fight," I admitted, and stepped in front of him. Ina swift movement, I was running around the Nobodies, and I struck each of them with my blade easily. They disappeared at once, and soon there were none left. Sora was gaping at me.

"How do you move so fast?" he asked.

"That's the beauty about not being human. Marble skin and sudden speed," I winked at him again, and then the katana disappeared. The girl, Yuffie, was smiling as she jumped down.

"I see you're all still up to shape," she said, hands on hips. She seemed like the kind of girl who couldn't stand still. Her feet were still moving as she spoke.

"Of course, what'd you expect!" Sora said proudly, his hand moving to beat his chest. I winced at the pride. Yuffie laughed, clapping. "What about you guys?"

"Of course! We're always able, no worries about that!" Yuffie said with a grin. Sora scratched the back of his head, and the same look that seemed to be there whenever he was with me came to his face. He wanted to ask something.

"Have you seen Riku, or the king around?" Sora asked, and Yuffie began to skip off.

"Nope." She stopped as she reached the entrance to the nest street, and turned to face us. She leaned down, hands on her knees, and spoke, "But I had a feeling we'd be seeing you again!"

Sora suddenly stood tall and brought a hand to his chest as if he were swearing by something. "'We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other!'" he said solemnly, and I couldn't help but chuckle. He blushed lightly, but was also laughing. Donald and Goofy snickered, and Yuffie laughed as well.

"Is that supposed to be Leon?" She asked, a grin on her face as she pointed her finer crossly. This only caused more laughing. Yuffie shook her head, and then straightened up. "Come on! Everyone's at Merlin's house, I'm sure they'll want to see you." She skipped off, and I looked at Sora. He gave me a small smile, before beginning to walk forward. I followed close behind him, Donald and Goofy walking leisurely behind us.

We reached an old house, brown and with a large step up to the old wooden door. We all stepped inside, though I was wondering why we didn't knock. Inside, three more people were with Yuffie. One was a girl wearing a pink dress, long brown hair tied loosely and stunning green eyes. She gave one of the softest, most kind smiles I had ever seen.

Sitting on a bench in front of the computer was a man with blonde hair held back by goggles, stubble on his chin. He wore a simple white shirt with jeans, and was chewing a piece of straw. On his other side was a man with a scar on the bridge of his nose, his long dark brown hair framing his face and two cold blue eyes. He had a jean short-sleeved sweater with fur on the hood, a white shirt, and black jeans.

"Welcome to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie called, jumping slightly. I looked at each of the members, and felt oddly out of place. Who around here would wear a corset? _Who put me in one?_

"I knew it," the man with the cold eyes said. Sora looked at him.

"Knew what?" he asked.

"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you, all at the same time." He explained, pushing off the wall and taking a couple of steps towards us. His eyes strayed to me briefly before returning to Sora. The boy looked offended.

"Does that mean you forgot about us?" He asked, incredulous. Donald and Goofy also looked offended.

Yuffie interrupted the moment, and instead jumped in front of Sora. "Who's the girlie?" She asked, nudging him. Her eyes strayed to me, and she gave me a huge smile. I found it difficult to return the smile.

"Ah, this is Kiera. She's my…uh….friend," he looked confused for a moment, and I slung an arm over his shoulder.

"I'm his guardian." I stated simply. Only the man with cold eyes seemed to understand.

"You're a vampire, aren't you?" He asked, and I nodded briefly before retreating from Sora. His cheeks were red.

"Came from the same place we did. We were sleeping for a year." I frowned, still curious about how that happened, as I listened to Goofy.

"Where were you, in cold storage?" The blonde man asked. Sora shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"It doesn't matter, this is great! Everyone's together again." It was the first time I'd heard the girl with the dress speak, and her voice was so soft I wondered if she had any problems with her body. She spoke like she knew what pain and sadness felt like. Like someone who had suffered a great sickness, or still was.

"Yeah, it's great to be back." Sora smiled.

"I wouldn't say that just yet," The man with cold eyes said, and the blonde got off of his chair to crouch to Sora's eye level.

"We got ourselves a problem, kiddo. A big problem."

"You mean Nobodies and Heartless?" Sora asked. Yuffie once again stepped forward, even though Sora was peering over the man's shoulder to look at the cold eyed one. I was getting tired of not knowing their names.

"You betcha!" She said with a wink, and I ground my teeth. Her constant cheeriness was starting to wear me out. I didn't want to listen to it. Sora, however, seemed relaxed by her care-free mood, so I said nothing. I'd rather he wasn't depressed, even if I still didn't know him that well. "you'd better follow Leon here so he can show you exactly what we're up against."

"Come on," the cold one said. I was glad I finally knew his name. Leon. We followed him through tow silently, fighting off whatever heartless came our way, until we came to another set of stairs. Walking up them was easy enough, but as soon as we turned the corner there were more. We fought them off quickly enough though.

Leon led us to the other side of the walkway, straight down some more stairs and past a metal gate that was left open. We were left in shadow, as the small room-like area was covered with a brick roof. Leon leaned against a wall, where a large open space was with a clear view of the castle. I stepped up, looking out. Sora was right beside me, and let out an audible gasp.

There were thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of Heartless surrounding the castle. All I could see was a black sea, with only the castle not touched. There was a river flowing into the mountains and around them, stopping somewhere near the castle, and Nobodies were flooding it.

"It's an army," I stated. "And it seems like the Nobodies aren't in it." I pointed to the river and Sora followed my gaze. "They're trying to sneak in, probably. Whoever they work for, they're not working for the person who created this army."

"It was Stinky Pete!" Donald quacked from Sora's other side. "He said he was making an army of Heartless for Maleficent, didn't he?"

"So he did," I murmured. I remembered it now, as I tried to think past studying my nails. I remembered the huge dog saying something along those lines. Leon gave a soft hum of acknowledgement.

"Knowing who caused this isn't going to help get rid of these," he stated.

"You're right," I said, stepping back from the wall. I began heading for the gate, my mouth set in a grim line, when I slithered shut. I turned to Leon, ready to accuse him, but he shook his head. He wasn't the one who had made it close.

"You called?" Someone said. The voice was deep, and echoed. Sora ran up to me, desperately searching for the voice, but my hand flexed and my katana appeared in an instant. "You're doing well."

"Who's that?" Sora called, his own keyblade appearing. I rested a hand on his shoulder, listening.

"Well, this calls for a celebration, don't you think?" The voice mocked, and I hissed softly. Before anything else could be done, I pushed Sora out the gate and close it, while a gate on the other side also closed. Donald and Goofy had already made it out the gate. Now it was just me and Leon, as well as Nobodies appearing left, right and center. Sora was banging on the walls, trying to get back in.

"Sora, leave this to me," I said firmly, turning to give him a slight glare. He stared at me, his eyes hopeless, and gave a small nod. He stepped back, but his eyes never left mine. I wondered if he still thought I could get hurt. Before he could try and convince me to let him help, I turned and leaped high in the air, and when I came down I took a healthy three enemies with me.

Three gone, and I wasn't sure how many Leon had gotten. More were appearing, and so were the defense mechanisms, rolling and hitting the Nobodies. Leon was doing well, a large sword in his hands, and I wondered how he was able to defeat the nobodies. I didn't bother asking, as there was no time, and realized that the Nobodies were going for the gate on the other side. I hissed, using my speed to reach them.

"What ever you're after, you aren't getting it this time," I hissed, and in one swing took down all of the Nobodies there. I wondered why they couldn't be more of a threat. Almost as if to answer my silent question, something tore at my back. The most curious thing was, I could feel it. I could feel the soaring hot pain, and when I turned I was barely able to strike the last Nobody.

As soon as it was gone, Sora opened the gate and ran towards me. "Kiera!" he called, and I gave a weak smile as I fell to the ground. When I reached behind me, I pulled my hand back up front to find nothing. When Sora forced me to turn around, he said nothing. I waited in silence, and saw that even Leon was staring at me in a strange way. Donald and Goofy were both whispering to one another.

"What's the damage?" I asked bitterly, the pain gone. Sora knelt down in front of me, and touched my face as if checking I was really there.

"There _isn't_ any damage, just a pink scar. That's already gone, too." He admitted. I rose my eyebrow, wondering why this surprised them.

"What's with the shock, then?" I asked.

"Your clothes," Sora admitted. I sighed, realizing they were probably torn, but Sora seemed almost amazed. Obviously, that wasn't the case. I waited for him to explain. "Well, you see…it was the corset first"-when he said corset he blushed-"and then the sweater. They both started…_weaving_ together all on their own. Kind of like they softened the blow, and then remade themselves into something stronger."

"I wasn't the one who chose these clothes," I snapped, standing up. "But I guess whoever did knew what they were doing. Why they made me wear a corset, I have no clue. For some reason people always think of a female vampire wearing a corset." I shrugged, and turned to the gate. A voice interrupted.

"The keyblade…a truly marvelous weapon. If only it were in more…capable hands." Following this were several laughs. Sora stood, and looked ready to shout, but I held him still. We ran out through a third doorway I hadn't seen, and looked around. Finally, Sora shouted out anyways, even though I gave him a withering glare.

"Show yourselves!" he called, and a dark cloud appeared. A moment later, a man wearing a black cloak stood there, watching us. I couldn't see his face, as it was clouded by his hood. Five more figures appeared behind him, all wearing the same cloaks and with the same, almost dominating stance.

"Organization XIII," I whispered, my hand clenching the katana. Goofy, who didn't seem to hear me, yelled it out. Sora glanced at me wearily, as if asking what was wrong, but I shook my head softly, "Let's settle this, here and now."

"Yeah," He said with a smile. This only seemed to cause more laughter from the members, though.

"A shame, really, that you wish to dispose of us. I thought we could make great friends." The leader said, and waved a hand. I hissed, baring my fangs, and crouched low. Any moment I was ready to spring, to tear at all of their throats…

But they just laughed, and disappeared one by one. Donald began to run along the sidewalk behind us. "Stop!" He yelled out, but instead he was the one to stop as one of the members appeared abruptly before him. Donald reared, looked at where they had just been standing, and then looked back at him.

"Move," I hissed, and sprung. He dodged me easily, and I landed gently on the ground. He turned so that he could see all of us.

"Oopsey daisy," He said in a husky voice. "Do you really think that's polite, just springing at me like that?" he asked.

"If you don't move, I'll make you," I growled out. "Give us free passage and I won't tear your throat out."

"Well, you see, that would work, if I were just any old dude. But you see, I'm not just any old dude. I'm a member of the organization, which means I'm stronger than you are by ten-fold, princess." He seemed to be gloating, moving back in a leisurely way and putting his hands on his hips. "There's nothing any old about me."

"Tough talk," Sora snapped, "For someone who only watched." Sora glared at him fiercely, crouching low as he readied to fight. The man just laughed, leaning back, and then stood straight again.

"He used to give me the exact same look!" He said, still chuckling. Sora glared, his hands flexing.

"I guess you think you can psyche me out with your weird talk, but it's not gunna work." He snapped, and for a moment I almost felt proud of him.

"Gee, I just don't know," the guy said, leaning forward with his arms spread. Everything was silent for a moment, and I let out a growl as I clenched my fists. I wanted to attack, but I wasn't sure how powerful he was. I knew that if Sora weren't there, I would have attacked anyways. Why care about myself? It wasn't like I hadn't been begging for death for the past hundred years. "Be a good boy now," and the man disappeared. I cursed, and swung my katana where he had just been. Sora looked at me, frowning.

"Who gave him the same look?" He asked, and I stared at him for a long moment. Finally, I sighed and looked away.

"I don't know, Sora. He was probably just trying to confuse you." I whispered.

"Yeah, don't go worrying about it!" Goofy said, and gave an encouraging doggy grin. I couldn't help but give a light giggle, and Sora chuckled softly. Leon approached, and in his hand was what looked like cards.

"They're gone," He stated simply, and Sora nodded. Leon held out the things, which proved to be cards, and handed them to Sora. Before reading his own, he handed one to each of us. Finally, he held it up and turned it over to read it aloud.

"The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member," he read, and then turned to Leon. "Thanks."

"Merlin asked that we gave them to you, since he didn't see you yet." Leon replied, and Sora smiled.

"Tell him-" but he was cut off as the keyblade suddenly glowed. In his hand, the card suddenly rose high and formed a keyhole. It was unexpected, but Sora seemed to know what to do. He swung the keyblade in complicated manners, and then held it high so that it was even with the keyhole. A laser of light emitted, right into the keyhole, and then the card returned and fell into Sora's hand. We stood there in silence for a long moment, before Sora turned to Leon with a grin. "Looks like it's time to go," he said.

End Chapter


	4. Old Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 4: Old Friends

We didn't leave. I had put my hand on Sora's shoulder, seeing the bags under his eyes, shook my head, and pointed at the sky. It was twilight, and quickly becoming darker. "Don't exhaust yourself. A journey can take time; you can't save the world and feel god about it with tons of energy all in one day."

"You want us to stay the night?" Sora asked, confused. I nodded softly.

"You need your sleep. I can see you're tired from all of the fighting we've done so far, and I think you've done enough for one day. The other worlds can wait for a little while longer if they want their savior to be able to even raise his arm without needing to collapse and fall asleep." I was attempting to be funny, but I wasn't in a funny sort of mood. I was a little ticked from all of these confusing events.

There was still one thin confusing me; that man, Axle, had known I was the chosen one. I wanted to know if it was the same kind of thing Yen Sid had said, or if he meant something entirely different. I also wanted to know just how many people seemed to know about me. Obviously the word had gotten out or something, because I had somehow ended up getting trapped and stuck in a flower. I knew it was because they wanted me to be with Sora; that was obvious. The only question was why?

Leon took us back to the house where those people had been, and when we arrived there was another figure. He wore a blue robe, a long beard reaching his waist and spectacles clinging to his nose. He had a wizard hat on, and I felt a little like pulling it off his head and tearing it to pieces. I didn't want to be around another wizard.

"This is Merlin," Sora said, grinning. I realized that the old man was staring at me, and I gave him a small glare.

"Yes, yes. Of course." Merlin muttered, and stuck out his hand. "You're a little more cranky than I would imagine. Why a vampire, I ask myself?" I took the hand, frowning, and then dropped it. "Well, I see you need a place to stay. Come in, come in! Hurry now before the Heartless come." We stepped inside and the door shut behind us, and I saw Yuffie standing at the computer with the blonde man. The girl with the pink dress was nowhere to be found.

"Hiya, guys! Back so soon?" Yuffie said, turning. "I'd of thought taking care of the problem would take a little longer than that."

"We haven't taken care of the problem," Leon replied. "We ran into some trouble. Sora, Donald and Goofy are spending the night and then they're off." I sighed, walking away from them and towards a small table that had five chairs around it. I took one of the chairs, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

Sora followed suit, and we sat there as Leon, Merlin, Yuffie and the blonde guy began to discuss battle strategies and defense plans. I wasn't sure how long we sat there for, but no one called on us. When I took a look around the room, I found Donald and Goofy were already sleeping heavily on a couch that had not been there earlier. I saw another two couches, and realized that they were our beds. Silly people. I don't sleep.

Eventually Sora got up and went to one of the couches, a dark green leather one, and I was alone. It must have been somewhere around midnight when the others left, and only Merlin remained. The old wizard was coming towards me, mumbling to himself. When he reached me, he sat down beside me and smiled. "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you. I can't drink tea. I can't eat anything else, for that matter." I pointed out as I saw him reaching for his wand. With a swish and a word I didn't catch, a bunch of cookies appeared on the table. He took one, nibbling on it.

"How are you not hungry?" he asked. I stared at him, thoughtful. I myself was a little curious why the thirst hadn't gotten to me yet. I was surrounded by fresh blood all day, and yet I'd never once had a hunger for any of it. "You don't know, do you? It's because you haven't thought f it. So long as you wish to protect Sora, you will go to any measures not to harm him. Your mind subconsciously shied away from the thought of taking his blood and dulled his scent. With it, whoever was around him."

"So you're saying that I can control my thirst because I don't want to hurt the kid?" I asked, putting my legs up on another chair. Merlin took no notice.

"That's something of what I'm saying." Merlin replied with a small shrug. "However, how long you will last without blood is completely unknown. You could become starving at any time, you could suddenly feel the thirst that's slowly taking over even at this very moment, and then you could snap and hurt Sora. You'll have to satisfy your thirst before that can happen, so that you can't harm him in any way. You cannot lose control and kill him, Kiera."

"Look, number one, I never told you my name so don't use it so casually. Two, I'm older than you, by hundreds of years, and you're trying to give me advice on how to make sure my thirst doesn't take over. I know how to deal with my own thirst, and how to control myself around certain people. Listen, I don't sleep, I can't sleep, I'm dead, so I'm going to keep watch outside."

Before the old man could say anything else I stood and left through the front door. The fresh air hit me, but I couldn't feel how cold it really was. Everything was cold to me. Even the touch of human flesh. I sighed, looking up at the roof, and sprung. It didn't take much energy to jump that high, and I found myself standing on the roof of Merlin's house.

I sat down, leaning back so that I was against the pole that the smoke from the chimney came out of. The night was quiet, with no one awake and no one about to be awake. I stared at the stars, wondering how long it had been since I had done this. _More than a year_, I thought. _It's been more than a year since I've enjoyed this feeling that says I was once human._

I'd always loved staring at the stars. Even though the memories were distant, and I could no longer imagine them, I knew that I had once sat on rooftops as a human with my sister, the two of us giggling as we pointed out stars. I couldn't even remember her face anymore, the sound of her voice or what she liked to wear. It was like I didn't even have a sister.

But I knew I had a sister. I'd never forgotten than. I may not know her, or her name, but I did have one. She was probably six feet under, completely deteriorated and never to let me know her face. _One hundred and ninety-nine years of being an immortal…but what about her? It's been two hundred years since I saw her. Could she be an immortal as well? Did she ever go back to that house where we lived, with our aunt?_

_Wherever she is, it makes no difference now. I'll never see her again. I'll never remember anything about her, and maybe one day I'll completely forget about her. I would forget that I even used to be human._ The thought scared me, and I didn't want to think about it. Considering, I was actually a pretty young vampire. In the underworld, people weren't turned very often. Only killed.

Vampires were rare, old and ancient. Most were over five hundred years old, and I hadn't even reached my two-hundred mark. It didn't help that I was so young when they changed me. They should have known that I would always be the same fifteen-year-old, unable to mature into something deadly and cold. I would always have a part of me that was human, even if it was only sarcasm.

I wasn't expecting the soft sound of footsteps on the roof. My hand flexed and my katana appeared in a small flash. I looked around, my eyes searching the dark. It was so much easier with my eyes. I could see in the dark, even on the blackest of nights. My eyes scanned the area as I crouched low, expecting an enemy to appear.

However, the only thing I saw was a pair of yellow and black boots, shifting nervously. I followed the boots to legs with a pair of black shorts and then along a black short-sleeved hoodie and then the nervous face of Sora. He looked exhausted. I sighed in relief, and instantly relaxed. Sora have me a small smile before walking closer.

"What're you doing up?" I asked. "I thought I said you needed rest. Climbing onto a roof in the middle of the night isn't resting."

Sora grinned, but it turned to a frown. "I couldn't sleep," he admitted. I sighed again, patting beside me, and he agreed eagerly enough. He sat beside me, bringing his knees to his chest. We were silent for a while, staring at the stars. I felt relaxed with him by my side, and forgot about my sister and my fears. "Kiera…am I too kind?"

"Why do you ask?" I looked at him, and found that he was staring at his hands.

"I don't know. I just…I was watching you, and the way you acted so, well, cold hearted. I haven't seen you smile since we got here, and it's been bugging me. I like seeing you smile." I stared at Sora for a very long moment, shocked. "After watching you and the way you acted around other people, I started thinking about the way _I_ act around other people.

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I always helped people without a second thought, not caring about the consequences that came for me. Sometimes, people don't even say thank you for helping. I put myself in danger for these people, when I should be trying to get to the bottom of other things. I should be worrying about my own problems, but I find myself worried more about them."

"Sora," I said softly. "You are a little…_too_ kind, but not in a bad way. You don't have to feel bad for putting others in front of yourself. The things you do prove that you're stronger, greater than I am, than any creature that lays in the dark. Everything that you are is so much better than anything that waits for you in that black pit. Nothing good comes from it, only evil. It's great that you can care for these people, keep them away from the darkness. Even if they don't say it, they have to be grateful to you for saving them. Besides, if you think about it, that just means they all have a debt to pay and one day when you're in trouble and need help, they can all come and repay that debt."

"You have a strange way of looking at things," Sora replied. I just shrugged. He was grinning, though, and looked a lot less worried. That meant I had played my part, and I smiled softly. "There it is; that smile."

"Only because you seem to be able to summon it at any time you like," I replied. I ruffled his hair, and gave him a cheeky grin. "You're too cute and innocent not to smile around." This caused a blush, and Sora looked the other way.

"I'm not cute," he muttered. I chuckled, shaking my head softly.

"Yes you are," I said. "But don't worry, alright? I'll protect you, I swear upon it. I don't care if that old man said it was my destiny or not, I'm going to protect you. Whether it's destiny, or if I was told to, or if in the end I'm supposed to betray you, I _will_ protect you and I won't ever betray you. You are the sole reason for my existence at this time, and until I know you're going to be safe and happy then I refuse to leave or give up on my duty."

"Why do you care about me so much?" Sora asked, his face screwing up in confusion. I chuckled.

"I don't know, kid. Maybe it's just you." It was silent again for a while, and then I poked him on the arm. "Hey, Sora? Uh…what are the names of the blonde guy and that chick in the dress?" This caused a laugh, and Sora suddenly went into an animated explanation of Hollow Bastion, Traverse Town, the people who I had met, and his entire adventure before I had met him.

I wasn't really fascinated, but I was glad I had him talking. Eventually, I knew everything about his past endeavors, and about Riku and Kairi and all of the worlds he had visited before. He told me the names, the places, the enemies, and the way he felt at every moment of his journey. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face the whole time.

I learned that the girl in the pink dress was Aerith, and the blonde man was Cid. After that, all I did was listen to him. I soaked in every bit of information, but I mostly just watched his face as he expressed everything and threw his hands everywhere. I was enjoying myself, and found myself laughing when he said "You know…my voice was really high pitched and childish back then. I guess it cracked while I was asleep."

Soon, he was exhausted and he told the last of his story. He told me how he and the king had closed the door to the light, and then he stopped. I looked at him, and found that he had stopped to yawn. "Sora, it's time to go to sleep." I said. He gave a small nod, rubbing his eyes. He really looked like a kitten, the way he suddenly curled into a ball beside my lap. I was shocked when he rested his head on my lap, stifling another yawn.

"Thank you, Kiera, for caring for me." He whispered. I smiled down at him, and found myself stroking his hair. He looked so tried, so grief stricken right then, and I wondered how innocent he really was, and how much he was trying to fake it for the sake of others. I sighed softly, leaning back and watching the night as he slowly fell asleep. "There was one more part to the story," Sora whispered.

"You could always tell me tomorrow," I replied softly. He shook his head, and then opened his eyes slowly.

"Kairi was standing there, alone, watching us. I ran after her, and when I reached her…it started to separate. I took her hand, and I told her that I would always be with her. I promised her I would find my way back to her, no matter what." Tears were sparkling in his eyes then. "I don't know what happened, but she was suddenly on the island growing farther and farther away from me. I tried to call out to her, but she couldn't hear me. I was engulfed in this sort of light, and then she disappeared.

"I don't know if I'll ever see her again, Kiera. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that promise. I'm not even sure if I'll find Riku in the end. How can I return to an island that doesn't seem to show up besides in my dreams? I have no way to get back to her, or to find Riku, and I can only hope that I'll find a way at the end of this journey. To finally be free of my duties, and to live a peaceful life."

I didn't say anything, I just continued to stroke his hair. He was smiling as he finally fell asleep, and for the rest of the night I found myself watching him sleep. His face was so much more peaceful, and I wondered if he was on the small island that they went to everyday to play, building a raft and hoping to find another world.

The next morning, we left. I watched as Sora said goodbye, and as Donald and Goofy stretched and yawned all the way back to the Gummi Ship. Everything was silent as we trudged back to the Gummi Ship, and the first thing I did when we got on was close my eyes as I strapped my self in tightly. Today we would have to go through a gate.

My predictions were right; I should have just stayed with the old wizard in that weird realm. I never signed up to deal with shooting flying heartless and doing flips and dodging bullets. It didn't help that Sora was the one flying, and just happened to be trigger happy. The fact that this was kept from me didn't help.

The ride didn't end quickly, either. It took quite a while, especially since I wasn't enjoying it. I knew that if I had any kind of human insides, I would have thrown up long ago. We did another spin, and I very nearly smacked Sora for doing that so much. He was laughing, carefree and happy, and I realized that it was because he was looking at me.

When we finally found ourselves going through a keyhole, I was heavy with relief. This time, we didn't go through the portal. Instead, we landed on the ground and stepped out, and then the Gummi Ship and the two chipmunks went and hid somewhere in a forest filled with bamboo trees, as well as others. Delicate leaves stared out at me as I stood in the middle of a small dirt clearing leading to a path.

Sora stood beside me, grinning. "This place looks nice," he said, and I nodded quietly.

"Yeah, it looks like this place is at peace. But if we're here…doesn't that mean it's not?" I asked, looking down the path. It curved so it was out of view, and I took a step forward.

"I guess so. Usually the worlds we visit are in trouble. Actually, I've never been to a world not in trouble before. It would be nice to visit a world not infested with Heartless for once, and now I have to worry about two different enemies instead of just one." Sora frowned, and crossed his arms. Then he smiled softly. "But it's like you said…I don't have to feel bad for putting them in front of myself. I'm happy that I can help them."

"Good," I smiled at him. "Shall we find out the problem you're needed for here?"

"Yeah. Donald! Goofy!" Sora turned to our two companions, and we started forward. We didn't get far. I stopped, putting my arm in front of Sora, and he ran into it. "What's wrong?" he asked, but I hushed him. We stood in silence for a moment, and I could tell when they, too, noticed the voices.

I ran, skipping through trees, until I reached them. I hid behind a tree, watching a figure clad in armor talking to a great dragon-shaped shadow that was against a flat rock, and a fire surrounding the rock. Sora caught up to me, and before I could stop him he stepped into the clearing that the two figures were in.

I stayed hidden as Sora seemed to recognize what was actually a small lizard-like serpent that was completely red with blue, soft spikes along the back. A miniature dragon. Donald and Goofy were behind Sora, both speaking with the small dragon and laughing. I noticed that the armor-clad figure was standing there, silent as the grave and looking nervous.

_A girl,_ I realized. The scent, the biting of the lip, the over-feminine features. She was a girl dressed as a man, and from the looks of it she was trying to get into the army. I took the moment to step out, and the girl seemed taken aback. She stared at me, most likely at how I was wearing extremely tight jeans with strange-looking shoes, and a corset with a sleeveless hoodie over top. This was a place where woman were expected to wear skirts, and most likely not to show skin.

I didn't speak, and I didn't look at the girl again as they continued to speak to each other. I stood beside Sora, not paying attention to any of the people around me. I only listened for anything suspicious, my nose picking up any scent that I could follow if anything happened. It was a while before they began to move.

I stopped Sora as Donald, Goofy, the dragon-which was named Mushu-and the girl, who had been called Ping but was really Mulan, walked down the path. I wasn't sure how I was going to say this, or how I would let him know exactly how I was feeling at this moment. There had been another reason for my silence, and for the reason I couldn't look at him or touch him properly.

"Sora, I can't go with you. They won't accept a girl, and as much as I would like to say I could make myself look like a guy, I'm too feminine. The curses of the beauty that come with vampirism is pricey sometimes." I gave a soft smile, hoping this would be a god enough excuse.

"You aren't coming with us?" Sora asked, his eyes widening. For a moment, I thought I could see anxiety, but it quickly disappeared. "Why not? I'm sure they would if they saw how strong you were!"

"Sora, this is a country where they won't even accept women. Do you think they'd accept a deadly strong, glimmering immortal amongst their men? I can't go, Sora. You can't mess with the order of the worlds. I'm a myth here, and I have to act my part until we leave." Sora was frowning, and my mind flew back to my oath I had given him last night. I sighed, and placed a hand on top of his head. "Sora, we've known each other for a total of two days, but I feel like I've known you for much longer. I'll be watching you at all times, and I swear that if you need me, I will help. If I have to, I'll put my hood up and pretend to be a mysterious figure, alright?"

My last sentence made him smile, and I gave him a small, crooked smirk. "Alright, Kiera. I trust you, you know…" Sora smiled again, and then turned. I watched him walk off, and what was left of my heart sank in despair. Now, I had to feed…

"You'll become more and more thirsty the longer you wait, until you won't be able to bare it anymore and your eyes will go red with lust, your heart will go black with hate, and your body will ache for the blood that you wish so much to flow into your mouth. The longer you wait, the weaker you get as well."

"_Is there nothing I can do?"_

"_You can prey on animals, though it will do little to help. Human flesh is the most popular, and also one of the most tasty. It strengthens you, as well. Though, there are creatures out there that can make you much stronger, and that you can live on for days on end without feeling an ounce of thirst. You wouldn't have to kill one of your precious humans, either."_

"_What are they? How can I get to them?"_

"_Darling, you're only a week old. You can't go hunting down things that can destroy your very essence. These creatures are our enemies. The price to pay for their blood could be your life."_

"_I don't care. I'd rather die than be this creature."_

"_Are you so sure of yourself? How can you be, when you haven't even felt the joy of it all, the pure delight and lust that you can encounter."_

"_I have no interest for lust."_

"_Again…are you sure?"_

I shook my head as I stared down at the limp body in my hands. That had been my first conversation with my creator where I hadn't snapped at him and tried to rip his head off. Why was I remembering it now, as I stared down at the old man that I had saved from dying alone? I traced my fingers along the two small bite marks left, and was glad I had left no trace of blood. As soon as my fingers left the man's neck, the puncture marks disappeared. _No trace…_I thought to myself.

My veins were pulsing, and for a brief moment I could feel the cool breeze, then I was normal again. I felt better, less tired and more aware. As I was standing, a snapped twig caught my attention. I sniffed the air, my muscles tensing. _That scent…he's back._

Before I could do anything, the knife was at my throat. I hissed, and stepped on the foot of the man behind me, then twisted his wrist and pulled. The man flew, and I found myself staring down at black hair and pale skin. A thing, long knife was in one hand, and his other was empty, though clenched in a fist as he rose to his feet.

My fangs bared, I hissed at my visitor. Crouching low, I could feel my muscles tensing, anticipating the fight to come. I sprung, my fist flying out, and hit the man in the face. He flew a few feet back, smashing into a tree. It broke in half, and I watched as the man rose with a small smirk, no pain in his expression.

His speed was incredible, though I was used to this by now. I moved with equal accuracy, and equal elegance. His knife tried to get through my guard many times, and every time he found himself thrown back. I was able to his him a few times, though I wasn't sure what it would do in a battle with one of my own.

At every opening, I tried to get at his neck. However, he left barely any openings, and when he did his blade went for my face as soon as I went for it. I wasn't sure how long we were at it, all I knew was that I was getting into the flips and the kicks, dodging and ducking and blocking. He didn't hit me once, and I didn't hit him once.

It was more of a dance than anything else. When I pulled, he pushed. When he tugged, I shoved. We reacted to each other's movements, moving intricately and at such a speed that if a human were watching all he was see was a black blur. Finally, he struck. His knife went straight for my breast, and my arm went in the way.

At the contact, he slid back trying to push the knife through my arm, but it didn't reach through my marble skin. Just as if I were to do the same thing to him, his own skin would not have broken. Then, he started to laugh. His knife dropped, and with it so did he. He said, cross legged in the grass, and his green eyes twinkled up at me.

"Aries, it's been a while," I whispered. My hands fell to my side, open and relaxed. My muscles relaxed as well, realizing the fight was over. I leaned against a tree, crossing my arms loosely.

"Indeed it has, my darling Kiera. I wonder…have you been well all this time?" he asked, looking up at me. "It's been five years since you left, and no one has heard a word from you in our area. Is t true you left to the other side of the underworld; the human side?"

"I did, for a while. Then I just went into hiding, always watching the city from the shadows where none of you would bother me. Then I ended up getting trapped inside of a glass flower, and was put to sleep for a year." Aries, the one vampire that I could possibly trust. Then I smirked, and lifted my chin. "What has Marcus sent you here for?"

"Marcus, Marcus, Marcus…" Aries tilted his head to the side, staring into my eyes. His face was broad, but still beautiful. Aries suited his name well. Though it was spelt differently, his mother had intended it to be after the Greek God of War, Ares. Aries was strong, with a tough build and the look of a wrestler who had taken up a career in acting. "You know, he still wonders where his favorite daughter went."

"I'm not his daughter," I spat. "If you came here to speak of such nonsense, then leave," I turned to look for Sora, but Aries was already standing and by my side.

"You greet me by trying to kill me, and then you dismiss me before I even give you the message I was said to give." He said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "I'm feeling a little insulted. Besides, I think you might want to hear this message."

"First tell me how you found me." At this, Aries' face screwed up in confusion.

"Truthfully, some guy just appeared in front of us, and told us you were traveling the worlds. Something about to protecting a human boy, too. Could have imagined the laugh I got out of that one," Aries shook his head, smiling at the mere thought. "Anyways, he was wearing a black cloak, you know, like in those really cheesy mysteries where the guy covers his face and everything."

"Organization XIII," I muttered, cursing.

"You know them?" Aries asked, surprised. I just nodded. "Anyways, I was told to find you and tell you the news about the underworld. We have a new ruler now, a king. Calls himself Leo, looks real prissy too. I dunno how he got rule, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, but no one's took too kindly. Marcus wants you to come back, says you're the best for getting the job done."

"You want me to come back so I can assassinate your new king?" I rose an eyebrow, and then shook my head. "I have other duties than helping a city that can't be helped. Keep your problems in the underworld out of my life for now, all right?"

"Duties? Don't tell me you're actually protecting some kid who's supposed to go and save all the worlds?" Aries looked incredulous, but the look I gave him was enough to shut him up. He looked at me in disbelief, and then sigh and looked at the ground. His eyes strayed to the corpse that had somehow not been trampled on during our fight. "Nice food," he muttered sarcastically, then turned. "Look, Kiera. You're like a sister to me, but going off to protect the peace of the world borders? You're not the Kiera I know, and I'm not sure if I can help you for long, but I'll keep Marcus away from you for as long as possible."

"You mean he wants to come for me himself?" Just the thought of it made a shiver run down my spine. My creator was strong, stronger than most vampires, as well as older. He was thousands of years old…

"You have no idea how hard it was to convince him to let me go instead. Looks like I made the right choice, too. If he'd of been the one to come, he'd of taken the kid and slit his throat right in front of you, then dragged you back to do your job, then put you in a dungeon for a hundred years before killing you so that you'd be haunted by the memory of watching the boy die."

"Thanks for the details," I whispered, and then began to walking. Just the thought of Marcus anywhere near Sora made me want to be closer to the boy. I didn't say anything as I departed from Aries, and didn't retort to his last words.

"Don't get too attached to the human; he'll break what little of your heart you have left."

So what if he does? If it's Sora, what does it matter? That boy…all I'm doing is putting him in more danger. What a guardian I am.

End Chapter


	5. Something Like China

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 5: Something Like China

When I reached the camp, hidden amongst the shadows and the tents, I saw no Sora. Only a few guards and a man in slightly more elaborate armor were there. I quickly retreated from the camp and cursed. How could I have been so stupid? I should have known he wouldn't stay put for a long amount of time. What with my hunting and my small meeting, I shouldn't have been surprised that he had already gone.

_Curse Aries and his talkative mouth!_ I ground my teeth and began to pace. Just as I decided to throw my hood up and go in to ask where a boy with spiky hair and baggy clothes went, I saw him. He was walking with Ping, Donald and Goofy, the lizard nowhere to be seen. They weren't walking towards the camp, but rather, farther away from it. I hissed, and sped along the path they were walking.

"Ack!" Sora jumped when I appeared beside him, and his hand went to his heart. I could hear it beating frantically. "Hey, Kiera…" he gasped out. I smiled softly, ruffling his hair, and then glanced around warily. The girl was staring at me in shock.

"Where are you going?" I asked, and Sora pointed up the road. I could see a small clearing with a pool shallow enough to walk through in the middle, and beyond it a path that seemed to be blocked.

"We have to secure the area for the captain and his troupes to get through. That way, Ping can stay in the army." I nodded softly, and then stepped back. Sora watched me, his eyes suddenly widening. "Where are you going?" he asked. I paused, staring at him in brief confusion, before shrugging.

"I'm going to hide. I'll be in the mountains. You have Donald and Goofy with you; I'm sure they can protect you while I'm not here." I winked, and then turned to run. "Hey Sora? Promise me something, will you. Make sure you don't do anything stupid or reckless just because I'm a few feet away in the shadows."

"Yes, ma'am." Sora said, and I grinned. Then I was off, speeding through the path until I hit the cliffs that held the path Sora was to secure. There were many boulders in the way, but I didn't knock them down. I would let Sora have his challenge, if only briefly. I sat, watching them as they walked closer and closer to the clearing that led to the cliffs.

Everything was quiet as I sat there, and I leaned back. I closed my eyes off from the bright sun, and barely felt the warm rays on my skin. I didn't bother sitting up until I heard Sora fighting off the first of the heartless. I could hear him yelling as he struck them down, and Donald as he cast his spells. I heard Goofy, making funny sounds as he attacked, and Ping, who was giving pathetic attempts at manly grunts and flimsy attacks.

No Heartless came for me. I continued to sit there, watching as Sora took down every path of boulders and getting closer and closer to the end of the path until he reached the snow. I sighed softly, wishing I could be down there to help him, but if I did then my cover would be blown. I closed my eyes, willing myself to calm down. How easy it was to simply accept your fate, rather than neglecting it! It only made it harder when you had to ignore the thing you wanted to protect for a time.

The soft padding of feet awoke me from my musing, and I swiftly stood. The keyblade formed in my hands, in the usual shape of the katana, and I turned, raising my arm as I went. As soon as I finished turning, I started to bring the katana down, but abruptly stopped when I found two silver eyes looking into mine, accompanied with a snow-white muzzle and a large, snow-white body.

The wolf stood there, staring at me with no visible emotions, yet somehow I knew it was just as intelligent as I was. It bowed its head, and then looked back up at me. "Hello there," I whispered. I crouched, putting my hand out. What harm could it do when its teeth probably couldn't even make a mark on my skin?

However, the wolf nudged my hand, and then nuzzled it. I smiled softly, petting it along its jaw and face. I'd never met a tame wolf, but they had always been one of me favorite animals. I didn't want them to be tame. Wolves, I thought, were meant to be wild. I glanced over my shoulder to find that Sora was being congratulated by the soldiers who had followed only a little ways behind, and saw that he had completely cleared the path for all of them. Ping was being congratulated as well.

"Looks like I have to go," I whispered, and stood up. I began to walk, and the wolf walked with me. I didn't pay attention to it as I made my way through the paths in a way where I wouldn't be seen. My eyes stayed on Sora as he and the troupes made camp in a small village, and as Mushu suddenly came out and started talking to them. I did nothing, only watching as my new silent friend stayed only a foot or so behind me.

The wolf nuzzled my hand, and I looked down at it. The silver eyes were boring into me, saying things I didn't understand. "Why're you following me?" I asked aloud, feeling only slightly foolish. I knew it could understand me. "Are you lonely?"

The wolf simply lay down, and began to lick its paws. However, its eyes were always on me. I smiled softly, and turned to watch Sora again. They were walking out of the village, and heading for a cave. I glared, and sprung from my spot. I heard the sound of footsteps directly behind me, and knew that my new friend was following behind. I wondered how it could have been as fast as me.

Because I had blinding speed, it was impossible for the soldiers to notice me with their untrained eyes. It was easy to slip into the cave after the others, sneaking up behind the reason for my existence. I once again made Sora jump when I tapped his shoulder. "Kiera! Why are you here?" He asked, frowning almost as if disappointed.

"I saw you going into a dark and mysterious cave. You tell me, if you were a guardian would you let your charge go into something like that without you?" Sora smiled sheepishly, and then rubbed his neck.

"Mushu said a guy who looked like Shan-Yu went in here," Sora said. "So we're planning on defeating him and giving Ping praise so he can honor his family." I frowned, looking at Sora. He shrugged, and I grimaced. How could he walk into a trap so easily? He sounded so innocent, so sure of himself, but obviously this man was not as dumb as to simply walk into a cave for all to see, where he knew he would be cornered easily. Something was up.

"Did it ever occur to you that it's a trap, and that he was planning on someone seeing him go in there so that they'd come after him?" I asked, but it was too late. We'd reached the end of the cave, and all there was in the area was a small round room, with a shrine on the other end. Sora began to walk forward, but before I could stop him he had already reached the middle of the room.

As soon as he did, I cursed and turned as my nose picked up on an unfamiliar, unpleasant scent. Shan-Yu, most likely, was just walking out of the mouth of the cave, his shoulders going up and down as if he were laughing. I ground my teeth, and turned back to Sora. Heartless were appearing everywhere, huge beasts that were half man and half horse.

I charged, slicing through them, but they did not disappear. Ping was beside me, fighting as much as she could. I gave her a small , encouraging nod, and she gave me a smile back. Together, we charged at one of the beasts and it finally disappeared in a puff of smoke, a small pink heart raising from its ashes. Sora was fighting two at the same time, and I hissed as small Shadows began to come at me. I struck them aside, not watching as they disappeared, and charged at the beasts trying to get at Sora.

Together, we were able to make them disappear. However, I had not been watching the Shadows, and one had struck Sora. The battle was over as soon as I cut through it, and I ran to Sora. He smiled at me, and showed me the wound on his arm. Three small scratches, meaning the thing had barely got him.

"Sorry I didn't get to it in time," I whispered. Sora just shrugged.

"You can't watch everything around you, no matter what creature you are. Mistakes are made, right? Besides, I can't let you have all the fun. If I let you do all the fighting, then I'll be out of practice when you're not around." Sora grinned, and Donald and Goofy ran at us. They were panting, hands on knees.

"We couldn't get to you, there was a barrier of some sorts!" Donald quacked, and Sora just shrugged.

"That's all right, we should go and see the captain." He replied, and I walked with them to the mouth of the cave. Sora seemed to notice that I didn't go beyond the mouth of the cave when I reached it before them. Before they left, Sora turned to me. "You'll stay here for a while?" he asked, and I nodded with a soft smile.

"Don't worry about me." I mumbled, and ruffled his hair. He blushed, and then caught up with the others. I watched them go with a sigh, and went back to the end of the cave. The shrine was simple, and candles were lit in small holes that were made in the cave. The light cast ominous shadows over the place, making it more eerie than it would have been without the candles. Why on earth would they make this place a shrine?

The wolf came only minutes later, not panting or looking tired in any way. I knew it hadn't joined me earlier, during the fight, because of the others. It was just as fast as I was, which meant it couldn't be a normal beast. I watched it cautiously as it lay down, resting its head on my lap. "I wonder…are you a girl or a boy?" I mumbled to myself, stroking its head.

We sat in silence, the wolf making a rumbling sound deep in its throat, and myself staring off into space as I absently stroked its head. It was odd that the wolf had decided to follow me, because all animals knew to keep a wide berth from me. Their instincts told them to stray from my scent as soon as they caught it, because I was top of the food chain, more dangerous than their deadliest enemy in the forest.

It wasn't long before I heard rushing footsteps, and Sora appeared. He looked a little breathless, and his eyes were wide. "The village was attacked, we have to go after him!" He cried, and I sat up straighter. I looked around, searching for the others, and then looked back at the wild boy. Sora was looking at the wolf, which I patted softly on the head. "Is that…yours?"

"No, it just started following me when we arrived. Don't worry, it seems perfectly harmless." I said, smiling. The wolf stood as we mentioned it, slinking past Sora, who didn't move a muscle, and disappeared. It probably realized Sora was scared, and seemed to want to prove that it wouldn't hurt him. "I guess it doesn't like guests. So you want me to come with you?" I asked.

"Yeah, Captain Li Shang won't be coming for a while, he needs to gather his troupes, so it should be safe for you to come with us." He had forgotten about the wolf at my question, which had been the point. I stood up with a nod, and looked around. Sora followed my gaze, and I smiled at his curiosity. I wasn't actually looking for anything, it had just happened. I was tense and ready for battle as soon as he was around me, ready to challenge anything that would threaten him. "What's wrong?" He asked, frowning.

"Nothing, Sora. Let's go. I'm glad I don't have to hide anymore, sitting around on the sidelines is no fun." I replied softly, and followed him out of the cave. We trudged through the snow to where Ping, Donald and Goofy were waiting. We walked up the mountain, no one really talking. It didn't really seem appropriate to talk at the moment, as if it would ruin everything. We soon reached a large clearing, and even to my ears it seemed like there was a silence pressing down on the area. It was like something was looming over the area, ready to happen at any moment. The clearing was huge, the size of a battle field, and mountains surrounded it at every point.

"It's too quiet…" Sora muttered. "Should we walk through it?"

"No, that would be reckless," I muttered and sat. Sora stared at me. "Sorry, but I need to think."

"You think by sitting?" These were the first words I had heard come from the girl, and I looked up at her. She was trying hard to make her voice deep.

"Yes, sometimes. I feel like being lazy at the moment as well," I replied with a small smile. Ping said nothing else in response, and I continued to think of our options. It didn't last long- the ground suddenly shook. I looked at the other end of the clearing, and watched as many small, flying yellow heartless were suddenly coming towards us. At the top of the hill was the man who had been in the cave.

"That's Shan-Yu!" Ping cried, pointing. Sora got into battle stance, and the keyblade materialized. I stood fluidly, and my own keyblade appeared. I stared at it for a moment, wondering how long it would stay by my side. Surely not forever. Why should it? It would disappear as soon as Sora did, most likely, and then I really would lose everything.

The Heartless were everywhere. We decided on taking separate areas, taking them down together but not in a group. It was simple enough; destroy as many Heartless as possible, until they were all gone. It was difficult to reach the ones that refused to come down, but that was easy enough to solve by simply using my inhuman strength to jump high enough to get at them. After that, I could easily use them as stepping stools to get from one to the next. Soon enough, they had all disappeared. I stood there in the now silent clearing, looking over at Sora who was many feet away. _That was too easy…I didn't even have to think about what I was doing. Surely that's not the end of it._

When I looked up, my worries were easily confirmed. Shan-Yu stood at the top of the slope that led to the other end, grinning with malice, and more Heartless were swarming behind him. I wasn't sure how much the others could take, and I didn't think I would be able to protect them all at once from harm. I knew I wouldn't be too harmed, even though they seemed to be able to give me wounds, but I was worried about them.

I was surprised when soldiers suddenly appeared, led by the man with the red cape. They were pulling out rockets, or something like them. I slipped my hood on before any of them noticed me, and slipped away into the shadows. The only ones who noticed were Sora, Donald and Goofy. I gave them a small grin, and then disappeared.

I was surprised when Ping was the one who suddenly took a rocket and began to run. I wasn't sure what her plan was, but I didn't bother saying anything. My eyes were for Sora only, who was waiting for the battle to come. He looked like he was about to run after Ping, but he stayed in place. I wondered if he knew I would have swept down and carried him away from the scene if he did.

Ping was pretty smart. She aimed, not at Shan-Yu, who was steadily growing closer to her, but at the mountain. I suddenly saw her plan, and I waited for her to aim it perfectly. Then, she struck a match and lit the rocket, and I watched as it soared into the air and right into the mountain. I would have cheered, but I knew what came next.

I jumped down from my hiding spot, running with all the speed I had in me, and Sora was suddenly gone in a flash. I clung tightly to him as I reached the other side of the mountain, rushing up the side until there was an area to sit. When I stopped, Sora stood there in a daze for a moment before looking at me.

"Where'd you come from?" He asked, and then looked down. Donald, Goofy and Ping had hidden behind a rock with the other troupes, but the captain was nowhere to be seen. I watched as Ping suddenly disappeared, jumping into the rushing snow, and Sora cried out. "What is she doing? She can't just do that!"

"She's saving her captain," I muttered. Sora continued to stare at the snow, and immediately relaxed when two figures suddenly popped up. Someone shot an arrow from the area the rock was in, and Ping quickly grabbed onto it. They were pulled safely back to the other troupes, and Sora smiled. He sat down, rubbing his face in exhaustion.

"How long have we been here for?" he asked, and I looked up at the sky. It was impossible to tell where the sun was with all of the clouds. I took notice of the fact that we were alone, without anyone else around, and where no one could see him. Maybe this wasn't so safe.

"Probably somewhere around five or six hours," I muttered, and sat. We watched the scenes below us, and I waited for an opportunity to bring Sora back down to them, away from me. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to restrain myself, because I was finally beginning to notice just how good he really smelled. I was surprised when the troupes suddenly left without Ping, Donald or Goofy. Ping had let her hair down, and was standing there defeated. I chuckled to myself. "They found out she was a girl."

"So she's Mulan again?" Sora asked, and I nodded. I stood up from my position, then crouched. Sora stared at me, incredulous.

"Hop on, we need to get down there somehow." I said. Sora stared blankly for a minute, before blushing and clambering onto my back. It felt odd to have his warm body against me. We fled down the mountain, and in seconds were standing in front of the trio.

"You're safe!" Donald quacked, jumping on top of Sora. I ignored them, my eyes only for the girl. She was taking off her armor, her face grim as she threw it to the side. She now wore a simple tunic and pants, light green. She was much prettier as a girl.

"I dishonored my family…" she whispered, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. She shivered involuntarily, and I could tell her instincts had just told her to pull away, but she just stood there, ignoring my too-cool touch.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, no one likes an easy life. All of this…aren't you happy you got some excitement instead of being a good little wife?" I asked, then dropped my hand. I looked over at the clearing, feeling on edge. Something suddenly didn't seem right. There was a smell in my nose, and it was the same unpleasant scent I had smelt in the cave. "We should get out of here," I muttered. Sora put Donald down, looking at me warily.

"What's wrong?" he asked. As if on cue, a loud cry was heard. I hissed, taking Sora's hand and pulling him behind me.

"It's not safe. That stupid idiot isn't dead yet," I muttered, and soon Mulan, Donald and Goofy were closely following. Mushu was on Mulan's shoulder, his eyes wide with fear.

"We have to warn the empire," Mulan said, stopping. I stared at her for a long moment, thinking the decision over briefly before nodding and letting go of Sora. It was dangerous, but I could protect them enough to get to a huge castle that probably had plenty of men to defend the place. Then I could take care of the problem myself, before Sora got himself hurt trying to be valiant.

"Go on, get to the empire. I'll be following in the shadows, watching for any enemies," I whispered, and fled. I did as I said I would, and watched them the entire time they went through the mountain path. Nothing came, only a few Heartless that Sora and Mulan easily took care of. Donald and Goofy were doing their part, but were letting Sora and Mulan take over mostly.

The journey was quicker than I expected, but I took the time to think a few things over. I wanted to know why Marcus wanted me so badly, why I had to be the one to do the job. There were plenty out there who were just as good, if not better than me. I wasn't that special, and I never had been. Maybe it was because he thought I could seduce the new king, most likely because I looked the guy's age. Marcus always had a strategy, and he always had reasons for picking certain people.

Why he picked me in the first place was a mystery. Not only for this, but to become his child and to become his favorite. Did he always know about the keyblade, did he know that one day I would be here, protecting Sora? If so…would he really kill the boy? Did he want me to do this job so that Sora would fail? The reasons for this were impossible for me to know, because I saw no reason, but Marcus had always been a mystery to me.

I wasn't sure how long I had until he would come for me himself, and I wasn't about to rush into it. I wouldn't spend much time thinking about him, and I refused to think of him near Sora. Just the thought made me want to strike something down, or to curl up in a ball somewhere far away where no one could find me and stay there for a hundred years. I had put off thinking about Marcus for the time being for exactly this reason. I had known that I would just end up getting angry, and now wasn't the time to be doing that. I should have dealt with this in the cave…

We had reached the empire. It was a large castle, elaborate and red. Sora was standing behind Mulan as she explained to Captain Li Shang exactly what was going on. I stayed off to the side, watching from the entrance of the building and leaning casually against it. The soldiers had seen me, and were now pointing at me and whispering.

I stared coolly at them, but I didn't get the chance to say anything as Mulan and Shang suddenly pointed at the roof, and my eyes automatically followed their fingers. I cursed, flinging out my right hand and letting the katana appear. I crouched low, anticipating a fight, but was surprised when three of the soldiers suddenly turned into Heartless.

With them, many more Heartless began to appear. I ground my teeth, striking through the Heartless that blocked Sora from me. I sprung to his side, and in return earned a great deal of curious and cautious glances. Sora seemed to relax when he saw me there, and then turned to Shang. "We'll secure the courtyard, you go and save the Emperor!"

The captain seemed hesitant, but then he fled with the three soldiers who had not turned into the lanky shadow creatures. As soon as they were gone, we set to work. Donald and Goofy were generally working together, and Mulan suddenly had a major improvement in her fighting skills now that she was no longer pretending to be a man. She moved with more grace, her yells the cry of a woman and her face more confident.

Sora and I took care of our own amount of Heartless, as we slowly made our way across the courtyard. I was shocked when a large tube-like thing suddenly appeared, a ball-shaped head popping out of it as it began to rear back, readying for what looked like a tedious attack. I hissed, jumping high into the air and twisting my body so that I landed with my feet on the bottom of the thing, which was now high in the air, and stabbed it. As it vanished, I kicked off of it and took the opportunity to take down a lanky Heartless with a purple robe that was giving Donald trouble.

They stopped coming after we crossed the small bridge in the middle of the courtyard, and we were running towards the steps that lead to the palace. When we reached the place, we arrived just in time to see Shang disappear with the Emperor behind the huge double doors. Shan-Yu started to bang on the doors, but a flash of light and a purple glaze showed that a barrier had been placed on it.

He turned to us, his beady yellow eyes staring at us like a snake's. A hawk sat on his shoulder, staring at us with a look I didn't particularly like. Then, unexpectedly, Heartless appeared and started banging on the door, and Shan-Yu was charging. I hissed, looking at Sora, and then pointed my katana at the running man wearing the skins of animals.

"Sora, get those Heartless away from the doors. I'll take care of him." I said, calmly. Sora stood there for a moment, then gave a small nod and ran off towards the door. He was heading straight into Shan-Yu's attack, and I watched as Sora jumped high, stepping on the man's raised arm and leaping over him. With a flip, he landed on the ground behind Shan-Yu, and then was running towards the Heartless. I felt a little proud and smug watching him.

Mulan, Donald and Goofy silently crept around Shan-Yu as he continued to charge forward, straight for me. I gave a playful smirk, and just as he reached me stepped around him and struck his hawk instead of him. This got the reaction I wanted, as the hawk fell down dead. The man turned, and growled. His sword flashed out, coming towards me, but I parried it and began to strike.

When I fought, it was like a dance. I was elegant, graceful, and I always went with the flow of my body. This man used brute force and gave no implication of skill, only rage. I dodged his attacks and struck at him, but though he attacked with force, his guard was well. I had only hit him a few times before Sora suddenly appeared, and began trying to attack him.

"Sora, get back!" I yelled, just as Shan-Yu charged at me. I quickly brought my blade up, blocking his attack, but he kept on pushing. I found myself being sled backward on the cement flooring. _No grip on these stupid floors!_ I thought, and began to push. It was easy enough; I hardly had to put any force behind it and he went flying, I just wasn't expecting Sora to be right there.

Shan-Yu knocked Sora over, hard onto the ground, and I groaned. Without pausing, I grabbed Shan-Yu by the shirt and forced him to stand. When he did, I struck him in the face with a hard punch, and then dropped him. He was coughing up blood now, and Sora was standing weakly. He gave me a small smile, and then grabbed the keyblade that had fallen to the floor.

Together, we struck Shan-Yu one last time. He yelled out in agony, and we watched as he fell to the ground. I could hear his heart as it became steadily slower, and soon there was nothing. He was dead, laying on the ground of the man he had tried to overpower. I knelt down, so that I was able to lean over him, and closed my eyes.

"Your actions must be punished…" I whispered, and then opened my eyes. I could smell the blood, fresh as it flowed out of his mouth. The hunger was suddenly unbearable, even though I had eaten only hours ago. I could feel my fangs dripping with poison as I slowly lowered my head to his fat neck, and before I could stop myself my teeth were at his neck as I drank the blood.

"…_I was told to find you and tell you the news about the underworld. We have a new ruler now, a king."_

"_You can prey on animals, though it will do little to help. Human flesh is the most popular, and also one of the most tasty. It strengthens you, as well. Though, there are creatures out there that can make you much stronger, and that you can live on for days on end without feeling an ounce of thirst. You wouldn't have to kill one of your precious humans, either."_

"_There is another world, one at peace, the one that the door to light leads…it really is a beautiful place. I once belonged there." The silver hair surrounded his young face, and his green eyes pierced into mine as he gave me a small grin. "Now I have to give into the darkness, so that I can help my friends. I'll never be able to go back now."_

I gasped, pulling away from the dead man, and backed away. When I looked at Sora, he was staring at me in shock, and I shook my head frantically. "Sora…" I whispered. "Sora, I'm so sorry." There was silence for a very long moment, and as I looked around I realized they were all looking at me in shock. Donald and Goofy looked slightly appalled, and Mulan…she was the one showing her fear.

"It's alright," his voice was just a small gasp, and I looked at him. He was frowning, as if curious, and then gave me his usual carefree grin. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was forgiven, but I couldn't help but wonder if I had just shrouded some of his innocence. "It's what you do. You're a vampire. You drink blood, no matter what world you're from or story you follow, all vampires need blood to be…sane."

"I'm so sorry, Sora…it's just, it was there…it beckoned me." I closed my eyes softly, cradling my head between my knees. I was surprised when I felt his warm hand on my shoulder, and looked up at him. He was still smiling. I had begun to notice that, whenever he was around, I was able to feel things a lot more easily. Mostly, I felt his warmth.

"There's nothing I can do about your nature. I have to accept the bad for the good, right?" I smiled softly at him, and he held a hand out to me. I rolled my eyes, standing on my feet without his help, and ruffled his hair. Donald and Goofy were now beside him, both chuckling, but Mulan still looked a little frightened. I gave her an encouraging smile, and she returned it only barely.

"Sora, I'm going to leave before more trouble starts up. I'll be just outside the gates," I said, and turned. I was troubled, but I didn't say so. I didn't want to worry him, and I didn't want to frighten him farther. Yet I couldn't feel regret for taking the man's blood. His strength ran through me, and I suddenly felt like I was a human again, and like I could sing and dance and cry and laugh for hundreds of years. I felt wonderful, but I still felt guilt for doing so in front of Sora.

_Anywhere else, anyone else, and I would be blissfully happy. Yet he had to be there, and the fear on her face…_But I was forgiven. I dwelled no longer on it, and instead waited outside the gate. When they eventually showed up, Sora was grinning like a madman and Donald and Goofy both looked highly excited.

"It was Shan-Yu's sword, the sword opened another portal," he said almost proudly. I smiled softly, once again ruffling his hair, and then pointed towards the path.

"Should I go fetch the Gummi Ship for you, or do you want to walk all the way back to the camp?" I asked, and Sora grinned. He shook his head softly, and looked at the long path. Without looking at me, he spoke.

"Thanks, Kiera," he whispered, and suddenly took my hand. I stared at our hands in wonder, and then smiled as we began our walk.

End Chapter

A/N: Okay, so. I actually edited this chapter quite a bit. It's still not as good as I could have made it, but I don't feel like rewriting absolutely everything. And…about Kiera being able to feel…I know I, or _she_, said that she couldn't feel anything, but it kind of doesn't work that way any more. See, I decided to change that, but it's too late to do that to the other chapters unless I wanna go back and edit them and rewrite them all over again, and I really don't feel like doing that right now, but I might get to it someday, so for now please forgive my mistake and remember that, yes, Kiera can feel the temperature, she just isn't affected by it.


	6. A Beauty But A Beast

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 6: A Beauty But A Beast

I could tell Sora was exhausted as we reached the Gummi Ship. When we went through the gate to our third world, he wasn't nearly as trigger happy as before, only doing enough to get us to the end of the trial. When we were finished, his head kept on dropping and then he would suddenly be startled and look around.

One time, he saw me looking and gave me a sheepish grin. I wondered how hard he would push himself to get through this journey. I knew this couldn't just take us two days to do and then we were over. How would we be able to do that when we had to travel to so many worlds just to find out a bit of information?

As we landed, I didn't look at my surroundings. Sora had reached his peak, and was currently falling over. I grunted, quickly catching him and holding him the way a groom would hold his bride. The thought of it made me chuckle, and I looked down at his suddenly drowsy expression. He looked up at me, his eyes clouded. He obviously didn't even realize that I was holding him.

"We need somewhere to rest," Donald stated, and Goofy was feeling Sora's forehead.

"He's just tired, don't worry. We should get him somewhere comfortable." I looked up, taking a look at our surroundings. A large, classic castle out of fairytales stood to the side, two large metal gates on our other side. A large wood lay beyond it, and I turned my back on the wood. "Let's try the castle," I mumbled.

"Yeah, maybe there's someone there who could help us." Donald replied, and began to walk forward. Goofy walked behind me, and we headed for the double doors leading into the castle. As we went up the steps, Sora was mumbling incoherently. I smiled, but it quickly disappeared when I felt a gaze on me. I looked beside me, where goofy stood, just as tall as me, taller because of his hat. He was staring at us with a smile that showed his two buck teeth, and I frowned. Why was he looking like that?

"Could you open the door for me? I may be strong, but I don't really want to drop him. He's sleeping." I mumbled, and Goofy chuckled, walking forward. Together, he and Donald opened the doors. Inside, there was a large front room, big enough for at least fifty people. The staircase was huge, leading up to a second floor that lead to two different halls and one large door. There was only one room leading off of the main entrance, the door open and a faint glow coming from it. I could smell burning wood; a fire.

"Look! Heartless!" Donald exclaimed, pointing at three small little shadows crawling across the floor. I glared at them, and set Sora softly onto the ground. Furrowing my brow, I turned to Donald and Goofy.

"You two watch Sora, alright? There's bound to be Heartless everywhere, and that probably means they're going to be around this area too. I need to go and check out that room first." Both nodded, and I slipped into the darkness. When I stepped into the room, a crackling fire was against the wall in a large fireplace, and only a single table was there with a glowing rose on it, and a large, comfortable looking armchair right in front of the fire. However, I wasn't able to bring Sora there at the moment. Heartless were swarming.

The katana formed in my hands, and I stepped through the door. Their attention turned to me immediately, probably because of my distinct smell and the presence of the Keyblade. I didn't waste time, striking through all of them as they rushed at me. They left with one strike, and I found myself surrounded by more. This time, they were Soldiers. I growled, striking through their armor and them with it. However, more and more were forming, and they weren't going away. I growled, stabbing through them and praying Donald and Goofy were not enduring the same as me.

I stared at the creatures as they slowly crawled towards me. My resolve was fading, and I was beginning to forget the reason I was fighting. I knew I could keep fighting for much, much longer, but I didn't have the heart to. I was exhausted, not physically but mentally, and I was so confused as to why I was here that I didn't know what I was doing anymore. I wanted so badly to just give up, go back to the shadows only watching, like I had done for so long.

I was surprised when a loud roar echoed through the hall, and a huge beast burst into the room. He growled, swiping at all of the Heartless, but this time none came back. It confused me why he had come in here…did he know that I needed help? Was it like with the wolf, a sudden companion? This was proved to be a wrong assumption as I watched him suddenly take the rose on the table and then leave, and then I was alone in a completely safe room, the fire still going and the chair looking ever more convincing.

Slowly, the darkness that had been creeping up on me while I was fighting faded away, leaving me confused and restless, and also knowing full well what had just happened. Yen Sid had said this could happen, that we could turn into Heartless if we weren't careful about protecting our hearts, our light. I tried to think of Sora and only Sora, and soon I was back to normal, my brain once again working at the same speed it had been working at only two days ago, standing in the white room that had been my captivity for a year. I looked at the small table, where the rose had been.

_Who had that been?_ I thought, stepping out of the room. Donald and Goofy were standing on either side of the unconscious Sora, weapons out and always watching. When I walked up to them, both jumped and were about to tackle me when they saw who it was. Both stopped, and then chuckled nervously.

"Sorry," Goofy said, and putting his shield down. I just smiled softly and nodded to Sora.

"Nothing happened?" I asked. Both of them shook their heads no, and I sighed in relief. Even if I was confused, wondering why I was protecting him, I would still do everything in my power to keep him safe. I didn't like thinking of it as planned, as something I was meant to do from the start. I preferred thinking of it as my weakness. This boy had touched what little heart I had left, and I wanted to repay him for bringing me back from the darkness of my own mind.

I picked him up as gently as I could, treading lightly as I went to the opened door. Once inside, I placed him on the large chair and then stepped back, looking at his peaceful face. I liked watching him sleep; he looked so much more innocent, the burden on his shoulders gone. The world of his dreams was all that mattered to him at the moment, and I wished more than anything that I could join him.

"Did the Beast say anything to you?" I jumped when I heard Donald and then nearly smacked myself in the head for doing so. Then I turned to Donald, confused yet understanding. He was standing at the door, having just closed the door firmly behind him.

"That huge animal-like thing that came into the room and took the rose? His name is Beast?" I asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Yeah, we met him in our last journey. He was trying to save Belle," Goofy replied, letting out an 'ehyuk' afterwards.

"Yeah…Sora told me about him. Last night." I blinked, looking up at the plain ceiling. There were no stars, but I could still remember every word he had said as I had looked up at the stars above Hollow Bastion. "He told me everything, about all of the worlds and all of your friends, and all of the perilous enemies you encountered. He told me about how you two…left him, for Riku, and then rejoined him because you didn't want to betray him. He said that was the reason he still has the keyblade, and why Riku is back to normal."

"All for one, and one for all." Donald said, jumping into the air with a fist raised. I chuckled, and let out a soft sigh.

"You two should rest as well. I'll wake you when Sora gets up, and then we can figure out what's going on here." Both of them seemed hesitant for a moment, and then nodded. I watched as they curled up against a corner, closing their eyes and leaning against each other. I wondered how they had become such close friends, but did not voice my question.

It wasn't long before both of them were snoring, and I found myself staring at Sora again. The more I stared at him, the more something seemed to be knocking on the edge of my mind, like I was forgetting something important. I didn't struggle to figure it out, just sat there and waited patiently. I'd rather not have to struggle, because when I did, everything slipped away instantly. Suddenly, I was no longer in the lit room, but traveling through my memories.

_I was standing on some kind of stain-glass platform, a picture of a boy and four others surrounding him. I didn't stare at his face, because I was instead staring at three items; a staff, a shield and a sword. I automatically headed towards the sword, wishing for the blade to be in my hands. I had always loved swords, and I had always been skillful with them. Besides, what use would a staff be? And I didn't need defense; my skin was already marble._

_As soon as I grabbed the sword, a flash of light appeared and a door along with it. It was large, and it was white. Something was jogging in my memory, but I ignored it as I headed straight for the door. I didn't stop as I pushed the doors open and walked though it. On the other side was a platform the same size and shape as the other, with the same picture. However, this time there was a long path going along it, leading to what looked like one last platform._

My eyes snapped open when I heard a soft groan, the sound of someone shifting in their chair. No one else would have heard it, but I had picked it up immediately. I could hear everything going on in this room, including the next room, but everything was silent but for Donald, Goofy and the fire. However, now I could hear the uneven breathing of Sora. He was awake.

I stood silently, walking up to the chair and looked over the top to find Sora staring at the fire, frowning. This frown wasn't his usual pout. It was so much more serous than usual. His eyes were guarded, narrowed, and cold. It struck me, and I had a hard time gathering my voice to speak. "What's wrong?" I whispered, and the boy jumped. He looked up, eyes wide and guilty.

"Nothing, just thinking," he said at once. I rolled my eyes and moved around the chair so that I was standing next to it. I said on the arm of the chair, and stared into the fire as well. I tried to swallow back the fear that had coursed through me when I had seen his face. It had been the same face I had seen on myself so many times before.

"What were you thinking about, Sora? The look on your face a moment ago…it wasn't normal. Were you thinking of giving up?" It was silent, and I knew I had hit the mark dead on. More fear gripped at me.

"Well…I don't know anymore," Sora whispered after a very long period of silence. "My dream…it was odd. It was convincing. I was standing in the darkness, and a voice was whispering. It whispered of power, dominance, and it promised me my friends without having to go through perilous journeys."

"Don't listen to it, Sora. Do you really want to be engulfed in the shadows, never to see light, never to be able to be truly happy again? I used to be like that, and I regret every moment of it now. I want more than anything to go back and change it all, to make everything happen differently." I knew I was being desperate, clinging to thread as I tried to convince him to stay away from the dreadful thoughts I myself had experienced only maybe hours ago. I sighed. "But alas, I am cursed. A dangerous beauty who is really nothing but a monster. I am never to be happy, Sora. My meaning in life is to exist and to kill, and nothing else."

"Then why are you here with me, Kiera?" Sora whispered, looking down at his folded hands. I stared at him in silence, before smiling. Relief flooded through me. He no longer had that cold look on his face, and it seemed to become more normal. Instead of a frown, it was just a stubborn pout. He was trying to comfort me now, which meant I had done my job. I didn't answer the rhetorical question.

"We should get those two up, come on. We have to get going." I got off of the chair and held my hand out to Sora. He blushed, taking it, and when he stood he gave me a smile that I couldn't help but reply to. I stared into his eyes, and I could see him leaning forward a little, his smile slowly fading into something more lazy, maybe even a bit lustful. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but suddenly my lips were on his. I could feel the warmth, the softness. I could feel a heart beating; my heart beating.

I pulled away, shocked, and felt my lips. Sora was standing there in shock, staring off into a world I could not see, and my heart beat faded away into nothing again. I was still breathing heavily, though. I shook my head, turning away and closing my eyes. I tried to push away the sudden moment, tried to shove it into a corner so we could continue with business. Nothing was said as I nudged Donald and Goofy awake, and I was more confused than I had been only a moment ago.

"What?" Donald quacked, snapping awake and suddenly standing with his staff out. I smiled softly, and shook my head. Donald rubbed his eyes and then gave me an embarrassed look. "Ah, sorry." I watched as Goofy slowly got up, giving out a huge yawn, and gave a big stretch. I didn't look at Sora as I began to walk towards the door. I heard them talking behind me, but said nothing.

Why had I done that? It was rash, irresponsible, and utterly ridiculous. Yet I couldn't help but feel his lips on mine, my sudden frenzy of a heart beat, how warm he had felt, the way I had been unable to think. It was the most pleasurable experience I had ever had, and I wanted to feel it again and again.

Then I thought of Sora. What was he thinking? Thinking about it, I realized he had probably never done anything like that with a girl, or even thought of doing it. I almost kicked myself when I realized that was most likely his first kiss, and I had just stolen it from him. At the age of fifteen, though, shouldn't the boy be thinking about that kind of thing? Everywhere I had gone in my long life, teenagers were always together by the age of fourteen or fifteen, some even pregnant or engaged. Sora seemed almost too innocent for fifteen, but I remembered the girl he had been speaking of so fondly. Could he have been waiting for it to be with her?

_I'm so stupid!_ I cursed, and closed my eyes. I was breathing through my nose, and was hardly paying attention to anything around me when a scent slowly made its way up my nostril. My eyes snapped open, and my katana appeared in my hand as I stepped in front of Sora. "What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly aware.

"They're coming," I muttered. I hadn't even realized that we had gone up the stairs and through a doorway, but I looked behind me to make sure we had just entered a separate area. Just as I was about to turn back around, a Heartless sprang from nowhere, appearing directly behind Donald. I cried out as I swung, taking the Soldier Heartless down with a clean stroke. They were appearing everywhere now. Huge ones were with them, and Sora was desperately trying to break through its defense in the front.

I stepped behind the thing and began attacking it from the back, and it seemed to be working. Soon, Sora was joining me, and we finished the thing off as Donald and Goofy took down the rest of them. When they finally disappeared, we were in front of the only door in the hall. I could hear voices behind the door, and obviously so could the others.

Being the ridiculous thing that he is, Donald threw himself at the door only for it to open on its own. Donald lay confused and bruised on the floor, but I was looking at the woman before me. She was beautiful, in the very sense of the term. Her lips were full and ruby red, with brown eyes that were light and soulful. Her perfectly straight, dark brown hair was tied back gently and framed a perfectly angled face. Had it not been for the flush of her cheeks or the slightly tanned color she had, I would have thought her a vampire.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" The woman cried in an equally beautiful voice. I wondered if she sang. It confused me as to why she was wearing such a simple blue dress with an apron. As far as I knew, that was a sign of peasantry, a simple townswoman. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! The Beast has been acting strange, he won't talk to me like he used to…"

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, standing awkwardly beside me. I could feel a guilty conscience coming, and looked away from him.

"Oh, I'm fine. They haven't bothered me in my room, those Heartless creatures." The woman said softly. "You must be here because of that, right?" Sora suddenly looked sheepish, and then grinned.

"Well, not really, but we can always do whatever is possible to help! Uh, have you seen anyone by the name of Riku perhaps? Or maybe King Mickey, a small guy with big…round ears." As he described the king, his raised his arms and made circular motions above his head to represent the ears of a mouse. The woman was frowning.

"I'm sorry, I can't say I have," She muttered, and then her eyes strayed to me. "Hello," she said kindly.

"Hi," I muttered, meeting her eyes. I gave her a brief smile, my fangs flashing, but she didn't wince.

"My name's Belle, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss…?" I flashed another smile and stuck out a cold hand.

"Kiera, and the pleasure is all mine." When her hand touched mine, I could feel the warmth and the blood rushing through it. I could feel the venom coming, and I quickly pulled away with a crooked smirk. "Nice place you have here."

"Oh, it's not mine. This is the Beast's castle, I'm only a person amongst the area." Belle said, and grinned. "It's a very nice place when all the lights are on, but it can be a little creepy at night."

"I can tell," I whispered. I personally didn't find it creepy, but obviously Sora, Donald and Goofy did. They seemed a little jumpy in this environment. Even now they were looking around in slight fear.

"Belle, did Beast say anything about anything at all?" Goofy asked, and Belle's attention returned to the trio. I found myself looking at Sora, who seemed to be constantly licking his lips, and I wanted to hit myself again. It didn't help that the gesture was making me want to do it again. What was wrong with me?

"…Servants might know," I blinked, looking at Belle. "But Beast locked them into a dungeon, and now I can't get to them."

"Why would he lock his own servants in a dungeon?" Sora asked, incredulous. I cold think of many reasons, but I did not utter a single one. Why make Sora aware of just how cruel this world really was?

"I'm not sure, but they're being held in the dungeon in the West Wing," Belle muttered, frowning. Sora grinned then, bringing a clenched fist to his chest.

"Don't worry; we'll get them out!" He said, and I sighed. Sometimes I wondered just how heroic he had to be. He suddenly turned to me, and gave me an earnest look. "Kiera, can you stay with Belle and make sure she's all right?"

"I'm here to protect you," I protested. "How do I know you won't go and get yourself killed while I'm not there?"

"I won't, I'm strong enough to live without you for a little while. Besides, I was able to survive my last adventure with Donald and Goofy, right?" He asked, giving a reassuring grin. I stared at him for a long moment, contemplating. On one hand, he was right. Belle would most likely need protection as she was not strong enough to defend herself against the Heartless, and Sora was plenty able to go and free a couple of prisoners. On the other, I wasn't sure what would happen. If I couldn't see him, I wouldn't be able to know if he was going to be fine.

_You left him alone in China. _I reminded myself. _It's only because you're worried he wants to stay away from you now, because you were an idiot._ I sighed, clenching my jaw as I tried not to yell at myself. "Yeah, sure," I whispered. It was hard to say it, and I was trying so hard not to say no, and I very nearly didn't say yes. Sora seemed to sigh in relief. Maybe he really did just not want me around, not right now.

"You worried me for a minute," he whispered. I didn't get a chance to ask what he meant, because he was already heading out the door. I watched them go, and sighed. When the door closed seemingly on its own, I turned to look at Belle, who seemed to be nervous in my presence. _So long as he tells me to do it, I'll protect anyone. Only for him._ Why was this? Because it was my duty, or because it was him?

"So, Kiera, right?" The woman said, going over to her bed. She sat down on the edge, looking down at her hands and looking thoughtful.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked, going to sit beside her. When I sat, I could feel the bed sink a fraction underneath me, and she looked up at me curiously.

"You protect Sora, and you do heroic events and such, yet you look to be his age, and you are only a girl. Why is this?" She asked, and I smiled. I was wondering when someone would ask me this question. I knew that Mulan had wanted to ask it before, as well. So far, these worlds seemed to be male dominated.

"I'm much older than he is, by a near two hundred years. I'm a vampire, and as such, am independent. I also come from somewhere where gender doesn't matter, you have to fend for yourself just as much as the person next to you. I protect Sora because it is my duty, be it in another world or in the deepest pits of hell. No matter what, I will always find a way back to him." I looked out the large window we were facing; it was raining outside.

"The way you look at him…it says you aren't just his protector. You think of him as much more." Belle stated, looking in the same direction as I was. She didn't seem to mind that she was sitting next to a bloodsucking, two-hundred-year-old dead person. "You look at him with love." I stopped cold, my breath no longer coming out and my whole body freezing. Something twisted in my stomach, and I could feel something choking in my throat. _Love_. The word echoed in my head over and over. "He looks at you in the same way."

"No." I whispered, shaking my head. "He doesn't, and he can't."

"So you do love him?" Belle asked, though she looked slightly frightened as she watched me. I frowned, flexing my hands and inching away from her. I gave her an apologetic look, which she seemed to understand.

"I don't know," I whispered. "I'm not sure of anything anymore, except that I need to protect him." Nothing else was said. I realized that I liked Belle. She seemed to understand I didn't want to speak of the subject anymore, and she let me sit in silence. When she had asked me the questions, they had been tender and truly curious, but deffinently not demanding. I didn't have to answer her, or say anything, I just did. It was odd that I was taking solstice from a woman who probably wasn't even a quarter of my age.

The surprisingly comfortable silence was only interrupted when the doors swung open and a huge wardrobe stepped in. I stared in shock at the item, which seemed to have eyes and a mouth and a strangely feminine figure. She was wobbling towards us, a smile on the wooden mouth. "A boy and his companions have just freed the others," she said.

"That's great! I knew they could do it!" Belle exclaimed standing up and giving me a bright smile. I returned it, but for a different reason. I was relieved, highly, that Sora was alright. There were a few minutes where Belle and the wardrobe were speaking, and then she was silent and looking out the window. I wasn't sure how long I sat there staring at the alive furniture, but I was suddenly stiff.

I could hear footsteps down the hall, only one pair. They weren't like Sora's steps: lazy, dragging and heavy. These were hurried, silent footsteps. I tried to smell who it was, and was instantly rigid. "He's here," I hissed, and stood. I fled to the door, both figures in the room with me staring in shock. I flung the door open just in time to see the black clad figure running down the stairs. Belle was suddenly at my side.

"He's the one who was with Beast!" Belle yelled out, and I growled lowly. Rage tore through me. Who did they think they were, running around like they were never in fear of danger? I wanted to rip his throat out, watch him die and disappear into the everlasting darkness that he wouldn't be able to come out of this time.

"Stay here, you should be safe," I whispered, and ran after the man. I was quick and silent, but I didn't go too fast so that I had absolutely no chance of passing him, and so he would be unable to see me. However, after running through the huge double doors in the entrance hall, he disappeared. I didn't bother looking around to see what was in the room, and only saw the balcony on the other end before hearing footsteps again.

"Wait!" I turned abruptly to find Belle running after me, and let out a frustrated sigh. "I want to come with you!"

"Why?" I snapped, crossing my arms. Belle looked scared for a moment at my anger, but then her face became stern and accusing. I swiftly glanced around the room, finding that it was a huge, extremely bright ball room, an elegant chandelier on the ceiling. This wasn't a place to stand in the middle of, not when there was danger. We could easily be surrounded.

"Because he did something to Beast and I want to make him pay. I owe Beast a lot." She replied haughtily. I realized she was the kind of girl who was extremely stubborn, despite her kindness. Sighing, I leaned back and pretended to measure her with my eyes. Her expression didn't change, and she simply stared right back at me.

"Alright, fine." I snapped, but Belle screamed at that same moment. I turned, a huge black thing coming towards us. It had chains all around it, and it looked like a huge black ball with eyes and stubby little arms. The door burst opened, and I turned to find Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast that had come into the room earlier to take away the rose.

"Belle!" The Beast roared, and Belle started to run. Sora seemed to notice the large black thing, and looked at me in alarm. I ground my teeth, knowing what he wanted me to do, and shook my head stubbornly. Not when there was this huge of a monster. Sora gave me a desperate look, his wide, innocent eyes begging me, and I was torn.

I sighed, rolling my eyes and turning to speed after Belle, reaching the door before she did in mere moments, and tore the door open for her. As soon as she was on the balcony, I followed her and shut the door behind me, closing it securely. Cursing, I kicked the stone railing surrounding the balcony. I didn't say anything when the part I had kicked tumbled into ash.

"Why aren't you helping them?" Belle asked, frantic. Her eyes were wide as she watched the battle from the door, but she couldn't see anything. Neither could I, for that matter. The thing must have made the whole room black, because all I could see were black and purple wisps. I was cursing again, mumbling under my breath as my hands found their way to my hair.

"I can't now! He wanted me to protect you," I muttered, and sat down on the cold stone bench that curved its way around the railing. Belle watched me with slight sympathy as we waited, for what I wasn't sure. If Sora got hurt, what would I do? Would I be a failure? Now that I looked back on it, when I had seen him, didn't I see blood somewhere? _On his arm…_

A new line of curses made their way out of my mouth, and I hit my head against the railing. Why did I agree to leaving him alone? _Because you felt guilty for kissing him._ I groaned, and looked up to find Belle watching me curiously. I realized I shouldn't have been uttering so many horrible words, but I couldn't help it.

"Sorry," I muttered, and rested my head in my hands. As I waited, I thought of the words Belle had said earlier. _You look at him with love._ Did I really? Was I supposed to love him, or was this against some invisible guidelines I'd never been told about? I didn't want to love him, and I most definitely didn't want to admit it, but her words had me thinking. Why bother lying to myself? I could lie to others, but there was no point in lying to myself.

So did I love him? It deffinently explained the way I felt a lot when I was around him, and why I couldn't say no to him. It especially explained my unexpected burst of emotion and stupidity earlier. Who was I trying to fool by saying that it was because it was my duty? If I were following my duty then I would never have let him do his own thing, let him go off on his own while I was left behind. I wouldn't have kissed him. I wouldn't have smiled at him, made him feel better, watched him as he slept.

I jumped when the door suddenly burst open and Belle was running into the hall. I watched her go, but I didn't follow. With this sudden burst of realization, would I be able to look at him? Maybe seeing him would help me decide. I knew I was still confused, and I knew I didn't know for sure yet, but I had a pretty good idea of what I really felt. It was doubtful Belle had meant to make it this complicated for me, but I didn't blame her for the sudden frustration I felt. I was grateful, because it would have been harder later.

I stayed outside for a minute, taking deep breaths of fresh air into my lungs. Even with no heartbeat, fresh air always felt nice. Even against cool skin that hardly felt anything. I began tracing patterns along the cement railings, completely calm for I knew Sora would be fine. Besides, I wouldn't be able to control myself around him at the moment. It had been a day since I had fed, and if he was bleeding…

I was hardly aware of what I was doing until I had already landed from jumping off the balcony. I was shying away from hurting him, drinking his blood, and as a result I was soaring into the forest searching for anything that I could feed on. It wasn't long until I found what I was looking for, easier than I could have ever imagined.

A man was simply strolling through the woods, a frown on his face and a gun in his hand. He was hunting, and his eyes were narrowed and shallow. The smell of him disgusted me; booze and peppermint, with a hint of cologne that covered up for not showering. His thick, greasy black hair was tied back and his face was extremely bold. I supposed he was considered handsome in this kind of place, most likely an idol in his town, but he looked utterly disgusting to me.

He was probably one of the easiest prey I had ever taken. Even the old man had heard me coming as I had stepped up to him, not even bothering to sneak up. I was even noisier with this man, technically stomping as I charged up to him. The thirst was near maddening, but he didn't even notice as I hissed and growled my way towards him, louder than any other animal in the forest.

And then he was gone. Simple as that, the man was gone from the face of the earth, never to have women staring at him in awe, a man wishing to be in his shoes, or to have the taste of brandy running down his throat. This thought seemed to satisfy me more than the blood, taking away what was most likely an egotistical, vain man that never thought for anything but himself.

I was back at the castle quickly. It seemed the man had been heading towards this specific area. My mind briefly drifted towards Belle, but the thought was gone as soon as it came, and I found myself back on the balcony, looking through the door where Sora was searching frantically behind every pole. I walked up to Donald, who was peering around the huge ballroom where it seemed impossible to hide anything, and poked him in the back. "What's he looking for?" I asked.

Donald jumped, yelling loudly, and then turned to look at me. "We were looking for you!" He yelled, and then seemed to freeze for a moment. I wondered what he was looking at, but he quickly wiped his hand across his mouth with a pointed look. Blinking, I brought my hand to the corner of my mouth and looked down at my pale fingers. A hint of blood was there, and I cursed lowly under my breath. I quickly wiped at my mouth with my hand, and then Donald gave me an approving look.

I was shocked when arms suddenly flew around me, and tried to peer over my shoulder to see who it was, but I caught the scent of blood. I ignored the sudden excitement running through me, and not because of the blood, and closed my eyes. "Sora, you're bleeding," I whispered. He immediately let go of me, blushing, and then grinned sheepishly. "What happened?" I asked, going wide eyed. There was a cut along the top of his arm, on his shin, on his cheek, and a very shallow one along the side of his neck. This one made me the most concerned, and the most angry…at myself.

"The battle was sort of hard, I guess." Sora muttered, and then dropped his hand from where it had been resting on top of his head. He was obviously struggling to stay smiling. "The thing ended up turning into this weird dog-like beast…er…no offence, Beast," Sora glanced over his shoulder, giving an impish smile to the aforementioned creature who was watching us, Belle at his side smiling secretively.

"That's it, no more making me bodyguard, alright?" I snapped, crossing my arms. "I'm by your side, and yours only. If you're just going to go and get hurt every time I leave for even two minutes, then your freedom is up."

"That's not very fair…" Sora muttered, pouting. I raised an eyebrow.

"You think it's fair having to see you hurt when I know nothing can happen to myself? If I'm not there, then I can't keep you from trouble and from getting hurt. I don't care if I get hurt, I care if _you_ get hurt." We were completely oblivious to the watching audience, their heads going back and forth as each of us spoke. I was shocked to see Sora's cheeks suddenly go red, but not with embarrassment or any other cute way; he was angry. his jaw clenched, and so did his fists, and I could hear his heart beating faster. There were tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

"What if _I_ want to keep _you_ safe? What if I don't want to see you get hurt at my expense?" he whispered, looking down. I stood there in shock, wondering where this was coming from. Was this why…? "I don't want to see you hurt, Kiera. I can take care of myself, and I care more about your safety than my own…I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it, but if I have to break it so I can see you safe and alive, then I will. I refuse to let a friend get hurt, and I won't let you try and tell me anything otherwise."

"Sora…" I whispered, sinking to the ground. I sat there, cross-legged, and stared at the floor for a very long moment. "You know, I'm immortal. I can't get hurt unless it's another vampire that tears me to pieces and then burns me. When a body part is severed, it'll try and come back to the original body and reattach itself, and if given the time, it will. I can't die, and if I get hurt, I won't feel it." _That's a lie. You felt that Heartless tear into your back in Hollow Bastion. There are creatures out there that can kill you. Your body doesn't reattach _ "There are very few things out there that can kill me, and very few monsters that are more fearsome and dangerous than I am. You really don't have to worry about me."

"I don't want to see you hurt." Sora repeated, his jaw set. I sighed, and ran a hand through my hair.

"You can't protect me, Sora. Nothing and no one can protect me, don't you understand? If I were to be honest with myself, I probably shouldn't even be here, but here I am, putting you in even more danger just to keep you out of it. So don't try and keep me away from the one thing that I can do. I refuse to be a tag-along. If anything…if I can't be your protector…then at least let me be your companion."

There was only silence for a few minutes, as everyone waited for his response. I was hardly aware that they were all watching me, as I stared down at the floor, the last of my heart falling into the pits of despair. Then, a soft, warm hand appeared in front of my face. "That sounds fine to me," Sora whispered, and I looked up to find him smiling with a tear rolling down his cheek. I smiled, and then quickly frowned.

"Come on, it wasn't _that_ emotional…" I muttered, taking his hand and letting him pull me up. He very nearly dropped me, but I caught him before he could, and cause himself to fall over. I quickly let go of him, blushing at the thought of our moment, our kiss, and only just remembering the people surrounding us. I looked at Belle and Beast, and smiled. "Thank you for watching Sora," I whispered.

"Good luck," Belle said with a smile, and Beast gave a small bow of the head.

"Come back soon," he growled out. I nodded, and looked over at Sora.

"Hopefully we wont be here because of Heartless," he said, and gave a small wave. Then he looked at me. "During your small absence, another keyhole appeared, just so you know, so now we have to go."

"Alright," I said with another smile. Then Sora stepped forward, Donald and Goofy on either side of him, and put his hands on his hips.

"Could you do us a favor?" He asked. "If you hear anything about Riku, or the king, could you tell us as soon as possible?"

"Of course, Sora," Belle said softly, and then took Beast's hand. "We owe you, for everything."

End Chapter


	7. This Is Our Story

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 7: This Is Our Story

We didn't go straight to the other world. The Gummi Ship was moving on its own, going straight for Hollow Bastion. I refused to get off the ship, not wanting to meet anyone else in Hollow Bastion at the moment and knowing that Sora would most likely be fine. Instead, I spent my time thinking over our most current trip to Beast's Castle, wondering what was true and what was not. The two chipmunks were happy to show me around the rather small engine room, and I had to crawl to get to anywhere, so I quickly gave up on that.

When Sora came back, he looked upset. I was happy to see that there were no new wounds, except for maybe a couple of bruises, and his old wounds were nearly healed. Donald had been the one to thank for that, after using his magic to cure their wounds. I wasn't sure if those two had wounds, or if they even _got_ wounds, because their fur hid their body.

"What's wrong?" I asked Sora when he came into the ship. He took his seat, and sat there with a small frown on his face.

"I can't help but wonder if…if you had been there, maybe it wouldn't have happened. Maybe you could've prevented it, and then they would all be fine." Sora whispered, sighing and poking the steering wheel as he spoke. "I went to go and visit Pooh, and then Heartless came while I was inside the book, so I tried to fight them off, but they ended up leaving with a bunch of pages…they were memories, of Pooh and his friends. Now Pooh doesn't remember any of them, or even me, and it's our job to get the pages back or else he'll never be the same."

I was confused, but I knew I would eventually understand. It didn't look like Sora really wanted to talk about it anymore. "Alright, well, we'll do our best. I'm sure we'll be able to fix this little problem of ours, ne?" I grinned, ruffling his hair. I didn't like how he had put himself down by making me superior. Maybe being around him was starting to give him a complex. "Now, let's get this trip over with. I don't know if I like being on this thing for more than an hour at a time."

The trip in the Gummi Ship wasn't as bad as the others this time. I supposed I was getting used to the twirling and flipping, and the over-eager Sora as he shot at the Heartless. I found myself watching as he shot at them, instead of closing my eyes and wishing I were back on ground, while trying very hard to not scream in fear.

When we reached the newest world, I knew better than to be surprised by anything. I had seen talking household items, a beast that was kind, a dragon that guided a woman pretending to be a man, a talking duck and dog, and numerous other unbelievable things. I didn't think I could be surprised by much after all of that.

Yet I found myself extremely surprised. I was suddenly filled with fear, my brain completely shutting down and my stomach doing uncomfortable flips as I stared at the place I was facing. It was completely black, we appeared to be in a cave, and not too far off were lanterns lit with green flames, leading up to a large-what appeared to be-gate. Stalactites hung on the ceilings of the cave, which seemed to be extremely rough and uneven. A large lake that seemed to either be made of mist or had mist hanging over it stood to the side, leading to nothing in particular.

"The Underworld," I whispered. I knew this wasn't my underworld, but I could feel the death crawling everywhere along me. I belonged here, I should have been here long ago, and I knew that I shouldn't be here. It was like the unseen souls were tugging at me, trying to bring me under, and they were beckoning me closer. The voices came from the gate.

"Is this where you live?" Sora asked, suddenly afraid. I looked at him, at his innocent face, as he stared at me, and smiled. I had to smile for him. "I thought this was the Coliseum."

"No," I whispered. "No, this isn't it. This is where Hades rules. Don't worry, everything will be fine." I winked and then shoved my hands into the pockets of my short-sleeved hoodie. Clenching them, I hoped it was enough to ignore the calls of the dead. "You know…this place kind of _does_ remind me of home. It's pretty dark here."

"Isn't that expected of the Underworld?" Goofy asked, confused. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and smirked.

"Yeah, sure. Just not expected of my place. I've never been here, so I wasn't aware of how similar it was to home." I said and then started to walk forward. Surly there was something up ahead that needed to be done. So far everywhere else we had gone seemed to be conveniently leading us to some other problem we needed to take care of. Sora ran to catch up with me.

"You know, an Organization member was behind the problem with Beast. He was trying to convince Beast that his servants and Belle were going to try and steal his life source, the rose. The guy's name was Xaldin." I looked at Sora, as he walked casually beside me, not looking at me. "While you were gone, he showed up again. He said 'so you think', and then disappeared."

"What did you say before he said that?" I asked, rolling my eyes gently. I don't know how I was supposed to understand why he had said that, when Sora hadn't told me what he had said.

"Oh, yeah…I said 'We did it' and then he appeared. Anyways, after he left we explained to Beast what a Nobody was, and why Xaldin was there. I came to the conclusion that he wanted to turn Beast into a Heartless, and Goofy said it was for the Nobody that would come with it." Sora's nose scrunched up as he explained the parts I had missed, and I giggled. He blushed, looking down, and continued. "Then Belle came, but you weren't with her, so I got worried. After Belle and Beast made up, said their apologies and such, the keyhole appeared, so I still couldn't look for you. After that, I started to search around the ballroom, thinking you were just hiding. Then you showed up." Sora shrugged as he finished, and then grinned. "I'm glad you came back in the end."

"You don't need to be. I would've come back no matter what," I realized just how true those words were, and sighed. Our conversation was cut short as we finally reached the first of the glowing torches, and I held an arm out to stop Sora. The gate was opening. "Stay still, we don't know what's coming."

"Right." Sora whispered, but he didn't listen. The reason was probably because he didn't find women very threatening, and a very distressed one was running through the gates in a pink dress and a purple sash tied loosely around her waist. Her hair was up in a rather high ponytail, her bangs swept far to the left out of her eyes. I scoffed at how it seemed to defy gravity. Heavy purple eye shadow framed green eyes and red lipstick was on full lips on a long, thin mouth. Attractive woman, all in all.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, running up to the woman. I stayed two feet behind him, looking at the door cautiously. Sora was trying to help the woman up as I watched three dog-like Heartless disappear into the cave. The woman stood on her own, brushing herself off. She took in her surroundings, and her eyes lingered on me for a brief second before she rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine," the woman said in a bitter, sarcastic tone, then she glanced warily at me. Looking at Sora, she placed her hands on her hips haughtily. "And you're supposed to be?"

"Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kiera." Sora chimed, pointing to each of us. "We came to see how Hercules was doing."

"You know Wonderboy?" The woman asked, going wide eyed.

"Yeah, 'cause we're heroes too!" Donald quacked, jumping slightly. Goofy snickered, and Sora grinned. I rolled my eyes, remembering what Sora had said about his journey at the Olympus Coliseum. They had been pronounced Junior Heroes after getting rid of the three headed dog Cerberus and saving a figure named Cloud, who was trying to find someone or something.

"Looks like we have a friend in common," The woman said, hiding a smile. "The name's Megara, my friends call me Meg."

"Do you know where Hercules is?" Sora asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

"He's up there," She pointed to a bunch of winding steps that slowly led up to light, "Hades has been giving him a lot of work lately. That's why I'm down here." I knew this was where Sora would say he would help, and I knew that we were going to have to go beyond the gate, where I wouldn't be able to remain sane for a very long period of time. We would have to get this done quickly.

"Why do you need to go in there?" Sora asked, pointing to the gate.

"To talk to Hades, to see if he'll give Wonderboy a break." Meg looked more sincere, her face softening from the bitterness as she glanced behind her. She obviously liked Hercules. "I was almost there when I started getting chased by those creatures." Meg frowned, and looked at me then. Her gaze went back to Sora quickly.

"We can do it!" Sora said, grinning. Meg seemed to smile, but she still looked concerned.

"That would mean a lot. Hercules can only handle so much more, even with his superior strength." She frowned again, then looked back behind her. "But if you do go…would you mind keeping this whole Talk-With-Hades thing between us?" I glared suspiciously at the woman, but her expression didn't change under my scrutiny.

"Yeah, sure!" Sora said with a grin. I rolled my eyes, following Sora as he gave a small wave goodbye and headed for the gate. It took a minute to open the gate, but once it was open I could tell this was not going to be easy. Before us was a long tunnel, completely black with a touch of blue, the only light coming from small white lanterns, and little white orbs floating around. _Souls…_

Sora didn't hesitate. He started forward, not surprised when Heartless appeared. I got rid of them quickly, telling him to keep going. I wanted to get out as soon as possible. As he, Donald and Goofy kept running, I stayed behind and fought off the Heartless. Every now and then Sora would refuse to go, that was when the particularly fat and huge ones came around, and we would fight them off together.

I was shocked when Sora suddenly held out an arm and stopped _me_. He pointed, and my three companions all gave out small yells. A member in all black was running in the tunnel, heading through a separate tunnel. I hissed, clenching my fists and running forward before Sora could stop me. Somehow, I knew he wouldn't have stopped me anyways. He was right behind me, as I was making sure to keep him safe while in pursue, and no Heartless appeared as we headed for the tunnel.

We reached the area the member had headed for, and found ourselves on a small platform. I was shocked to find the member was running towards us, and though I couldn't see his face I could tell he was panicked. "Run, run away!" he called, running past us. Sora tried to get the keyblade on time, but the member ignored him and went straight on forward. He ran right into a sudden portal, and then disappeared. I cursed, and Sora flinched.

"Shit!" I hissed, sinking to the floor. "I really wanted to get him this time!" I ignored the way Sora was looking at me for my vile language, and instead looked towards the doorway that the member had run through. "I'll bet my katana that Hades is through there." I muttered, standing. "Come on, I want to go quickly." I hadn't said anything-of course I wouldn't, I wasn't going to scare Sora-but the calls seemed a whole lot more tempting with each passing moment.

Without a word, I set off into the doorway, coming face to face with a green, eerie cave with a single path that weaved to an unknown area, where Hades probably was. The path was the only thing, everything else empty air that led steeply down to something that was-quite obviously-glowing green.

I stepped forward, and glanced back to find Sora directly behind me. Donald and Goofy were back-to-back, looking at the area cautiously. "I'm scared," Donald quacked, quivering from head to toe in shivers.

"Me too," Goofy admitted, and then glanced at Sora and me. He abruptly straightened, the skin under his fur seeming to darken. Donald mimicked him, and they brought their weapons cautiously in front of them. Ignoring them, I started forward along the path. I wasn't surprised when Heartless appeared half way there, which were quickly disposed of. I was starting to notice the major improvements in Sora's fighting since we had come from Twilight Town.

The passage beyond it was a quick set of steps, leading to what was most likely where Hades resided. I stopped, turning to Sora. "If there's another person in there that you try and make me protect, I am not going to listen," I muttered, and began to climb the steps. Sora followed closely behind. I had made a perfect prediction: there stood Hades, though I wasn't expecting to see Stinky Pete or the man cloaked in red, half of his face concealed with a scar along his eye.

I was watching this man, unaware of what Sora was doing as I slowly stepped towards the curious figure. Something about him set off my memory, but I couldn't tell what it was about him. It shocked me when they were suddenly fighting, and I realized I should have been listening. I was just in time to stop an attack from Hades, pushing him back from Sora easily. I could feel the anger coursing through me as I tried to figure out what had happened. "What the hell did you just say?" I snapped, turning on Sora. "No more fights! You need rest!"

"Kiera, watch out!" Sora cried, and I barely felt it as he pushed me. I barely felt or heard anything-shock ran through me at full force, and I wasn't breathing. It wasn't like I had to breath in the first place, but this was different…I _couldn't_ breathe. All I could feel was the sudden hot burst of pain running through my back as my senses finally caught up with me.

Hades had struck me. And it had hurt. What was _happening_ to me? I was vaguely aware as Sora, Donald and Goofy helped me up, and of the cloaked man as he told us to run. I hardly noticed that Sora was calling my name as we ran, down the stairs, through the doors to the chamber, and as Sora and the cloaked man desperately closed the door. As soon as it was closed, the foolish child relaxed.

"Is he gone?" Sora whispered, walking to my side. I wasn't sure why he was looking at me like that. Was the unbelievable pain visible on my face, or was it visible on my back? Could it have left a mark? I stared up at him, trying to breathe, but I couldn't. I felt paralyzed, with both pain and shock, and I couldn't think. I didn't even realize Sora was in danger.

"Don't speak too soon," the cloaked man said, and I tried even harder to regain control as Hades appeared. However, I couldn't. Then, as my thought process finally came back, I knew why. Even though I was an immortal, death could hurt me here. I was extremely vulnerable, even more vulnerable than Sora, even though I had heard something about his strength not being there because he was a hero in the underground…had it been Hades who had said that, while I had been observing the red cloaked man?

I was surprised when I was lifted off of my feet, and even more surprised that I saw it was the mysterious cloaked man. He fought easily as we desperately tried to run from Hades, using only one arm, and I wondered if he knew what he was doing. I was surprised when the green glow suddenly disappeared and I found myself back in the caves.

"Kiera!" I moved my eyes to see Sora kneeling beside me, staring down at my face. I needed out, but how could I tell him when I couldn't do anything but move my eyes? I clenched my eyes shut when I heard a whisper directly in my ear. _Come…_But I couldn't go. Even though I had wanted death for years upon years, I couldn't go yet, not now. I had to help Sora first.

"Help…" I gasped out, and was shocked. However, Sora seemed to be relieved, and turned to the cloaked man.

"You're good…are you some kind of hero or something?" he whispered, but I could feel his hand on mine…why was he being so gentle, so close?

"No, I'm no hero. I'm just an…" The man paused, and then looked down at Sora. The boy looked confused, but it was mostly hidden behind concern…on my behalf? "Auron." Both Sora and Donald looked at each other, confused, and then I saw a hint of a smile on the cloaked man's face. "My name. It's Auron."

"Oh!" Sora stood up, but he squeezed my hand gently before doing so. "Well, I'm Sora, and this is-" but he was cut off as Donald and Goofy stood, jumping onto Sora.

"Donald!" the duck quacked, giving a beak-grin.

"Goofy!" the dog chimed, giving one of his 'ehyuk' sounds. Sora fell to the ground from the weight, and Auron looked down at them. Goofy looked in my direction, where I lay paralyzed. "And that's Kiera, there!"

"I see. It seems we were fated to meet. I would suggest that maybe you needed a guardian, however…" Auron looked at me, and I wished I didn't look so vulnerable. Could he tell I was supposed to be the protector? Just how much did he know about the creatures of the dead?

"Guardian? Naw!" Sora said, grinning as he pushed Donald and Goofy off of him. "No need for Guardians. Only companionship." Auron seemed to smile at this, and Sora grinned. Then he glanced down warily at me. "Do you think you could help us…get her out of here safely?" I wanted to protest, but I knew I couldn't. For one, I couldn't even speak or move, and for another…I knew I needed help. No point in denying it now. We had stayed too long, despite my rush.

"Yeah," Auron said shortly, and knelt down. I was once again picked up, slung over his shoulder, and he started to walk. Sora, Donald and Goofy followed closely behind. I would have thought we'd get out safely enough, but I guess luck just didn't seem to be on our side. We didn't get bothered much through the tunnels to the entrance, which was a bit of a surprise considering Pete was here, but I guess they were sparing us some mercy, or something along those lines, for the three headed dog that came running around the corner when Sora discovered the gate was locked, and he needed to use the keyhole.

I watched as several things happened at once. The door opened, Sora turned to look at me, Donald and Goofy ran for the door, and I was suddenly thrown to the floor as Auron readied into a fighting stance meant to kill. When I saw the look in Sora's eyes, I could tell exactly what he was thinking…and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I knew that.

Sora dragged me to the door, where Donald and Goofy quickly grabbed me and dragged me to the other side, and then Sora gave a sheepish grin as he closed the door once more. Almost instantly, my strength returned and I was standing again. "Sora!" I screamed, running up to the gate and trying to pry it open. However, my strength hadn't completely returned, and for that one horrid moment I felt like a mortal.

"Kiera! You're alright!" Donald cried out, and I felt him tackle me, but I didn't pay attention to him. There had to be some way to get inside, but it seemed like I wouldn't be able to do it myself.

"Can you help me open this door?" I demanded, turning on the two companions. They both stared at me for a long moment before looking sheepish and shaking their heads. "Yes you can! Don't you understand? He's going to get _hurt_!" I yelled, and the two sighed.

"Kiera, you can't protect him from everything you know. Let him fight this battle," Goofy said and looked at the gate. "Gawrsh, Kiera. He was worried about you, so I don't think you should go in there and hurt yourself again."

"But…" I sighed, and looked down. Of course they were right. What could I do? I would probably just fall down again, useless because of those horrid voices that were still trying to call to me. I was glad they were much fainter. I sat down, staring at the cold cave floor as I waited for them to come out. What if they didn't, though? I was tired of letting Sora have his own battles. I had already let him fight alone too many times.

_You'd go after them. You'd go to Hades, and you'd strike up a deal with him. You know you would, so don't try to deny it._ I groaned, flying backwards with all my strength and thudding loudly onto the floor. There was a great echo from the collision of my rock-like body against solid cave rock, and as the echo slowly wrung out I slowly got more and more agitated.

He always had to be valiant, always had to fight, always had to be the good guy. I accepted this long ago, at the train station in Twilight Town, but it didn't make me any less nervous as he ran off to fight. I knew I would feel better as soon as he came out, completely fine and unharmed, but how would I be sure that he'd be alright?

My question was answered when the gate suddenly started to slide open, and Sora stumbled through it. He looked a little tired, but he was grinning, and Auron quickly ran out behind him. Together, they once again closed the gate, and then Sora turned to me. His smile made me a little weak at the knees, and butterflies ran through my dead stomach as I smiled back. All I could feel was relief.

"Kiera, you're alright!" he cheered, and ran towards me. He stopped right in front of me, and rubbed the back of his head as I glared down at him. "Sorry…" he muttered, frowning. Blood dripped from his arm, and I could see the distinct outline of teeth.

"It bit you," I hissed. Sora glanced at his arm, and seemed surprised to find blood there. I sighed, and turned towards Donald. The nervousness, the agitation, everything, left me. All I could feel now was relief, and slight annoyance was now added in. I wasn't even angry that he was hurt, so long as he was in one piece standing in front of me again. "Donald, can you cure him?"

"What? Oh, yeah!" Donald quacked, and scurried forwards. Pulling out his staff, he yelled 'Cure', and the wound slowly scabbed, then faded into a pink scar. Even that would fade away in time, and Sora smiled.

"Thanks, Donald." He said, and sat down. He stared at the floor, then looked up at me with a blinding smile. "I'm glad you're alright. You had me really worried for a while, you know." He said, and then stood up again. "Come on, we should go find Hercules. He might have something we could use for the Underworld, so that we can come back and keep our promise with Meg."

"You really don't have to do that," I said as I turned towards the stairs. Sora stepped up beside me.

"Yes…I do. I can't break a promise." He said firmly, and I rolled my eyes. I didn't say anything as we climbed, higher and higher, until we found ourselves engulfed in light. The echoing footsteps stopped as we all shielded our eyes and found ourselves in a courtyard of sorts, in front of a huge coliseum. I looked down at my skin-it was glimmering a little, like glass or marble, a few rainbows here and there. "Yeah! We should find him here!"

Running forwards, Sora turned to grin at me. He stumbled from not watching where he was going, causing a slight blush, and then turned away from me to get to the front gate sooner. I chuckled softly, walking with my hands behind my head as Donald and Goofy sped past me. Leisurely, I watched as the coliseum doors opened to reveal a man that was heavily muscled, with expensive-looking armor and leather clad, and curly red hair held back by a simple headband. He looked exhausted as he stumbled out and to the stairs, but his expression immediately brightened when he saw who was running towards him.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy! What're you doing here?" he asked, descending the steps quickly. The said trio skidded to a stop in front of Hercules, which I knew that he was because there was no one else he could be. Sora and Hercules exchanged a 'manly' hand shake and then Sora leaned back. "On another adventure?"

"Yeah, sort of…fighting Heartless, tracking down friends…the usual," Sora said with a grin. I reached them then, and Hercules seemed to stare at me longer than necessary. He coughed gently and then looked back at Sora.

"Junior Heroes, always busy!" he said, and they once again did the handshake. Then they let go, while still grinning at each other, and Sora turned to look at me.

"Yeah, and this is Kiera. She joined us a while back." Sora said happily, and I gave a grimace of a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Hercules said with a short wave and then turned to the door. I looked around me, taking in the surroundings. Behind us, the staircase to the Underworld seemed to emit an even darker aura now that I was in the light of such a bright coliseum, and four score boards were displayed. One was Pegasus, the other Phil, the third Hercules and the fourth Hades. The walls of the courtyard-entrance were a sandy gold, and the entrance to the coliseum itself was so Greek that there was no doubt about where I was.

"Kiera?" I jumped, blinking as I saw Sora waving his hand in font of my face. "Are you alright? We're going in now." He said, concern etched into his features. I chuckled softly, embarrassed, and began to walk.

"Sorry, daydreaming…" I whispered. We entered the coliseum, and I found myself in a small waiting room with trophies on one end and a small entry way on the other. Sora, Donald and Goofy went straight for it, and I quickly followed. As we descended a few steps, I blinked rapidly from even more brightness. The actual coliseum may as well have been made of pure gold it was so bright.

A large square of brown that easily stood out was dominating the area, the stands a great many and Greek styled poles at each corner of the battle grounds so no one would get confused. I paused, taking it all in, but Sora, Donald and goofy simply kept walking straight towards a two-foot-tall goat man. There was a loud greeting, but I paid no attention. Behind me, Meg appeared. She looked sad, and a little tired.

"Did you find a way?" she asked, but I shook my head and she looked even more disappointed. "I guess I was expecting that. Thanks for trying." She whispered, and was about to turn away when I firmly grabbed her arm.

"It wasn't me, it was Sora. Also…is there any sort of town around here?" I asked, my eyes raking the sky. Meg looked confused but she nodded her head nonetheless.

"Yeah, right outside the coliseum. Why do you ask?" She inquired, raising a brow. I just gave a meek smile, and passed her back into the entrance room. I could hear her mumbling under her breath as I walked out of the coliseum, and looked around for a second exit. _There…_I glanced to the side, where a small entrance lead to blue sky. I let down all guard, letting my vampire instincts take over and completely letting go of all human emotions. And then I was flying, my body free of all problems and worries as my legs worked faster than any anyone had ever seen.

I was in the town in less than thirty seconds, zipping through the shadows. No one noticed me as I sped by them, my nose sniffing out anything. My predator instincts overtook me, leading me to something I wasn't sure of. Following my nose, I found myself in front of a small house, where someone was sitting inside alone and obviously sick. Licking my lips, I stepped forward to greet the man. Venom dripped from my fangs as they slowly sharpened in anticipation…

I didn't know if the man even noticed me, or if he felt his death. All I could feel was the satisfaction of the blood in my mouth, though it was not as sweet as the man who had been hunting in Beast's woods. I could feel a dribble of blood going down my chin as I feasted, completely forgetting where I was and that there were other people in this town.

"_Do you wish to take responsibility for his death, and for the eternity of hell before him if you decide to keep him?" The man asked, staring ahead of him with cold blood-red eyes. A slight smirk lifted his perfect lips, showing one of his fangs. "Because you would take full responsibility, you would be at fault for him having to be tormented every day wishing for the death he can never have. You are the one who would have to live with that burden, that guilt, because you would be the one who caused it, and you would always know that."_

"_Then why did you change me?" I demanded, baring my fangs at my mentor. "Why must I be condemned to this life you have chosen for me? Do you feel no remorse, no guilt?" he looked at me then, frowning at me with such sad eyes that I had to falter. I tried to remember what this man had done to me, not only changing me but making me experience whole new things that I wasn't ready for yet…but his eyes struck deep into my soul, or what ever soul I had left._

"_I have no guilt for changing you, because I had to. You will learn someday what I mean. As for remorse, I have been condemned to this life for far too long to feel remorse for any living being, especially that of humans or my kind. All will be clear in time, Kiera, you just have to live to be as old as me…so try as hard as you can." Then the grief was gone, replaced by a teasing wink and then nothing._

I pulled away from the man, wiping my chin. I looked down at my hand, where the blood red smeared across the marble white, leaving a mark that I had killed yet another man as my consciousness returned to me. I sighed, pushing myself up to my feet and staring down at the limp, relatively young body. At least he had died, a pleasurable death as well. I still remember how I had felt when I had been first changed. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, just at the thought of the pleasure.

Turning away from the man, I stalked out of the small house and made my way back to the coliseum, following my nose to track the scent of Sora, of which was so normal to me that I could find it from miles away. I sighed, running my hand absently through my bangs. They fell right back into my right eye, and then I pulled out the elastic holding my braid in. My hair cascaded down my back, but no curls were evident in the perfectly straight hair.

When I reached the coliseum, I went straight for the training grounds. Sora was training, trying to destroy all of the barrels that were thrown at him, and Donald, Goofy and Phil were all throwing the barrels onto the training ground. From the looks of it, they were timing Sora on destroying a certain amount of barrels in a certain amount of time.

I sat on the bleachers, watching from afar as I relished in the fact that there was no more thirst, meaning that I could easily go about the Underworld without giving into temptation. I watched Sora's every move, saw the muscles flexing along his arms as he destroyed barrel after barrel, and every now and then, when he would leap into the air and do an aerial attack, his shirt would fly up and show his pecks, which were flexed and beaded with sweat. I could see and smell the sweat on his furrowed brow as he concentrated on all of his targets.

At some point, he looked up at the bleachers and spotted me. As soon as he did, he grinned, and the smile never left his face as he continued his training. Every time he destroyed another barrel, he would look at me again and his grin would only get wider. With every glance he cast at me, the more I felt dizzy and utterly confused.

What a boy, making me fall for him in all of his innocence.

End Chapter


	8. Oblivion

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 8: Oblivion

I didn't have a chance to talk to Sora. I could see him walking towards me, but my attention was strayed to the small factor that _something_ was pulling on me. When I looked up, Sora was suddenly running towards me with frightened eyes, and I could see why. All I could see behind me a black, black void that seemed to lead to nothingness. I felt a shiver run up my spine, and tried to stand, but was unsuccessful.

Sora was full out sprinting now. I tried to call out to him, to reassure his pleading, innocent blue eyes. My voice wasn't working, no matter how loud I tried to scream. Not even a whisper came from my mouth, not the sound of my breath, anything. I reached out, glad to see that my arm was still working, and tried to gesture for him to leave. However, he reached me at that point, and he grabbed my hand instead of letting me go. I tried to tug away, but I couldn't. In truth, I wanted him with me, to feel his hand on mine…

Then I was pulling him down, into the black hole behind me. Our speed left me breathless, the wind such a hard surface that it physically hurt to be going at this speed. I was barely able to pull Sora closer to me, to wrap my arms around his limp body protectively. His head lulled onto my shoulder, and his soft, warm breath tickled my neck. It was ridiculous how I could notice such things when we were possibly racing to our death.

"Kiera…" I heard a faint whisper, and then there was light. I looked down, surprised to find that we were in clouds and rapidly descending towards a dark, too-familiar place. We did not accelerate, but were starting to slow down. Something was controlling us, and as we gradually slowed down I was no longer going head first, but lying gently on the air. We were floating, in what I wasn't sure.

I didn't want to bring Sora here. This was the last place I wanted to go with him, for him to have to see. I could only pray that he would not wake up during our brief stay, because I refused to have us stay any longer than necessary. I clenched my eyes shut, willing the image below us to go away, to not have to go back to my home…

When I opened my eyes again, I was utterly surprised. _You really are insistent, you know that?_ I whirled around, trying to figure out if the voice had been in my head, or if someone had said that. I had made a huge mistake, considering that as soon as I turned around, whatever was making us float vanished, making myself and the unconscious boy held tightly in my arms start to propel towards the ground.

_Who are you?_ I demanded, feeling silly for speaking in my own mind.

_Have you already forgotten me? Pity. It's only been about two hundred years._ The voice chided, and for a moment, it _did_ seem familiar. I struggled to remember, but nothing came. Then I remembered us propelling to the ground, and clutched Sora tighter. I knew I would survive, I was practically made of marble, but Sora was still the fragile flesh and bone of a human.

Almost immediately, the cushioning occurred again. When I looked from where my face was buried in Sora's hair, I found that we had stopped millimeters before dark green grass, which seemed to almost blacken near the edges. The smell coming from it was almost fowl, and I cringed away from it. Sora stirred gently in my arms, but his eyes did not open. I was grateful, and silently placed him onto the rotting grass. Gently, I rolled over until I as well landed onto the grass.

When I took a kneeling position, Sora's hand in mine, I took a glance of my surroundings. We were in a courtyard, a large stone path in the middle of it leading to four different entrances, each one more different than the next. One door was almost simple, except that it was made from pure mahogany, with intricate designs absolutely everywhere, no inch of the door uncovered with the oddly elegant, foreign script.

A second door seemed almost invisible, though you could see nothing behind it. It was just a wispy veil, rippling even when there was no wind. It was translucent, but even though I could see right through it, I only saw a reflection of what I saw around me. The third door was completely iron, with huge bolts on it, and the design of a dragon burned gold onto the surface. It glittered, almost as if the etched being were alive.

However, it was the fourth door that truly caught my attention. Though it was a very unique door, it was also open, if only by an inch. No light emitted from the mysteries beyond, but I knew this was where we needed to go. The mysterious connection that had been made previously as we plummeted towards this place was gone, so I could not ask, but instinct took over me as I grabbed Sora.

The door was red. Huge, as if the door leading to the ballroom at Beast's castle, it was trimmed gold and had a black-drawn design dominating the whole of the door. The sight of this drawing made my breath hitch, for I knew that face of the woman that stood there, alive even in ink. There stood my sister, Alexandra, nearly identical to myself.

It was amazing how fast the memories of my sister suddenly flooded my head, floating between consciousness and hidden parts of my mind that I had yet to explore. I suddenly remembered the voice perfectly, the way her face would scrunch up when she smiled, the way her lips seemed to be a bright pink and there was always a bright excitement in her light blue eyes that never dwindled. I could almost feel the long, silky black hair that nearly matched my own, though much longer by all standards.

And then I was grinning, my body suddenly so much lighter despite the fact that I was in a potentially dangerous area. With Sora held cradled in my arms, I stepped forward. The figure on the door seemed to look down with pleased eyes, though there was no shining light blue emitting from them. My footsteps were light, but even though I was suddenly emitting happiness I could not help but observe Sora.

His face was more peaceful than I had ever seen it, even in sleep. Only then did I realize just how much stress this boy had gone through. His brow had no hint of lines, completely and utterly smooth, his lips slightly parted and full, as if inviting my own upon them. I had to clench my teeth to stop from leaning down. His skin was soft against mine, and I savored the warmth he gave me. His breathing came in relaxed, even sighs that revealed he was indeed in a deep sleep.

"Kiera, darling!" the suddenly loud noise startled me; I had not realized how used to the quiet I had become. I looked up, shocked to find a perfect monument of my memories sitting before me. I took it all in slowly, going from head to toe, taking in every detail I possibly could of the impossible woman before me.

Her feet were bare, her legs crossed like that of a man's, though much more gracefully. Her skin was a smooth, pale ivory that brought out the flush in her cheeks. She wore a long black skirt, that would have completely hid her smooth legs had it not been for her crossing them. Her black shirt was only slightly transparent, allowing me to see the undershirt below that seemed to hug her perfect form. The shirt came just past her shoulders, and attached to her arms only a few inches below the shirt were sleeves that flowed down to the ground, black and velvety. Her brow was smooth, adorned by short-cut bangs that nearly reached her twinkling eyes. I finally took I my sister's face, shining with pure joy.

"You're…alive." I whispered. This only seemed to make her grin widen, and I stared at her for a very long moment, before also breaking into a grin. I felt better than I had for two hundred years. Alexandra stood, slowly descending towards me, and I realized just how tall she was. She stood higher than myself, at a near five foot nine inches. Sora and myself only stood at five foot seven. Her legs were the longest, and I could see them moving behind the long skirt as she descended the ten necessary steps to reach me.

I absently glanced behind me, finding that during my examination of Sora we had gone down a small hall that reached to the large throne room. What exactly was Alex royalty of, though? She reached me, and was still smiling, though much softer than before. She seemed to look at me with knowing eyes, that knew exactly what I felt at the moment. "So, this is the famous Sora?"

"Alex?" I whispered, savoring the name on my tongue. Two hundred years since I had bothered to utter the name…

"Kiera, I'm so sorry." Then she was frowning, grief in her beautifully young eyes. "I did try to come back, but alas, I could not."

"It's fine. It's better that you didn't come back…I could have hurt you." I whispered, looking down at Sora's sleeping face. Couldn't I hurt him, as well? He had prevented me from so much. The last time I had felt anywhere near losing control had been when I first met the boy, and only now did I realize this. He had kept me from so much, from the beast that I truly was.

"It would have been rather difficult to hurt me, actually. I was changed before you were," she stated. I looked up then in shock, nearly smacking myself for my stupidity. Of course, she should be dead, not standing before me with the bitterly familiar skin and unnatural beauty. With bitter resentment, I finally understood why she hadn't come back.

"Where is this?" I asked, ignoring the conversation that was bound to be struck sooner or later. I took another glance around the black-painted throne room. Tapestries of wars, beautiful scenery, people, and many other things were displayed in no particular order, and the throne was on a high platform, designed exactly like that of the most richest of kings, the velvet a deep red and the chair made of solid gold. Beside it sat an elaborate cushion, where a familiar beast struck my eyes. "That wolf…"

"I had her find you in the world of ancient China, because I had heard that you were there from Aries. He came here immediately after he left." She stated, and then answered my previous question. "We are in a world that is in between the worlds. It's a simple floating castle, really. My castle, in fact. I rule here, the palace of the dead, where all mythical creatures are sent after death. I wouldn't suggest going through the veil; nasty place."

"You rule?" I repeated, incredulous. Alex gave me another smile.

"Yeah, sure. I have for a hundred years now. I was sent here to be next in line, that was why I left even though I didn't know it at the time." She said. "I don't really mind. I get plenty of privacy; creatures around here accept death easily. Most of them lived for over a thousand years, and have been yearning for it for no small amount of time. Life is pretty easy here."

"Why you?" I asked, hardly aware of the boy in my arms anymore.

"No idea," Alex chimed, beaming. "It doesn't matter though; I'm giving up my sentence to be with my baby sister!" She cheered, suddenly jumping high with her arms flying enthusiastically. I stared at the suddenly young, hyperactive girl before me. I realized the loneliness must have gotten to her, and that must have been why she was suddenly acting like a school girl.

"Who's going to take over?" I asked, ignoring the fact that she was doing this for me.

"Oh, who knows? Probably one of the dead around here." She replied absently, waving a hand. "Aren't you excited, though? I'll be traveling with you from now on! That's why I summoned you here. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when Marcus interrupted and started dragging you towards the underworld…took me a minute to get my bearings and get you back here. Of course, you helped by not wanting to go there with all of your being…all for that child." And then she finally returned her attention to Sora.

"Marcus intervened?" I demanded, my arms flexing threateningly. Red eyes flashed through my mind, and I glared subconsciously.

"Yeah, seemed pretty intent on getting you to him too. If it hadn't been for the fact that I have more strength than him from my job, then he would've easily succeeded." She replied. "Honestly, trying to compete with an extremely ancient vampire is like trying to lick your elbow." Alex mumbled, and I stared at her for the odd analogy.

"What happened to you, Alex?" I asked. "You're like a child."

"Not really, I just prefer to be a bubbly vampire over the obvious brooding one you took over." She chimed, and then looked at Sora again. "Why do you care so much for the kid, anyways?"

"Because it is my duty," I replied automatically. However, the way I suddenly bit my lip and looked down embarrassed must have given me away.

"Tsk, I'm afraid that was only in the beginning darling," she said softly, and lifted my chin with her index finger. She gave me a knowing smile, and then gestured to the throne room. "Come on, I'll show you to a room a bit less depressing than this, and you can rest for a bit. Alright?" Alex asked, and I nodded, a little confused.

As we walked through numerous halls, my mind was occupied by the last twenty minutes of events. Even for a vampire, it was hard to digest so much information all at once. It was hard to believe that my sister was before me, showing me around her palace after so long of wallowing in her absence. After all of that grief and pain, she merely brushed it off by being a bubbly school girl that happily skipped through the halls. I wondered what happened to my sister, how she could have become what she did.

"…We actually call this world Oblivion, just because it's not really anywhere." Alex said, and I looked up. I was surprised that she had been talking, but quickly covered it with a smile. She sighed when she looked at me, and then came to a stop. "Here should do. You'll find everything you need, and I'll be with you shortly, packed and ready to go."

"Are you sure you want to travel with us?" I asked, honestly not wishing her to do so. I had missed my sister, but I was still in slight shock that she was even alive. Yet here she was, and she had already been planning on traveling with us apparently for some time now. Despite my joy in seeing her alive, I didn't really want another traveler with us. Especially if she was going to act the way she was now.

"Of course! For one I can't let you get hurt, and for another, it looks like lots of fun! Maybe I'll meet my own boy," she added with a wink, once again looking at Sora. I sighed, opening the door after ensuring Sora would be fine in one arm. I was surprised when we stepped through, and was wondering if this was a part of the same castle when Alex skipped up behind me.

"Uh…where is this?" I asked, taken away. The entire room was painted a light beige, with white trimming. A large, comfy-looking leather sofa stood in the center, at least twice the length of myself, and was in front of a huge television. The carpet was the same color as the walls, and a large entertainment center held the colossus TV, with a video game system, a DVD player, and an expensive looking stereo. There was a huge kitchen attached to the room, filled with all sorts of candy on the counters, as well as all kinds of baking products. The fridge was huge as well, and I could only imagine the contents in not only that, but all ten of the cupboards.

"This is your room, you'll be staying here until we leave, alright? Make sure to get as comfortable as you need to. Now, if I assume correctly, you shouldn't need feeding for a while because you fed only an hour ago. So, you should be fine until we leave." Alex chimed, and then pointed to a small hallway I hadn't noticed. Two doors were there, each one a nice oak, and she looked at me. "One leads to the bathroom, and I think you should use it. the other one leads to a bedroom, you can put the boy there."

"Thank you…" I whispered, staring at the place in amazement. "Are you sure about all of this, though?"

"I'm your sister, you'd think you'd be happy that I was doing this for you and tagging along. It's only been two hundred years, I mean come on!" if I had any blood in my cheeks, I would be blushing. When she said it like that, it made me feel guilty. I realized I should have been much happier than I was, and turned to look at her. She winked. "You and I need to have a nice, long chat when we get the time, alright?"

"Yeah," I whispered as I watched the child-ness fade away from her face. She looked ancient for a moment, like a statue you would find of a Greek god, and then a small smile fitted her lips. I finally understood that she was not joking about coming with us, and that she really was concerned for my safety. The guilt enveloped me once again, and I wondered why I had not wanted her to come with me. Hadn't I missed her more dearly than anything in all my years?

"Good, but for now I need to get ready." She whispered, and then turned. With a small wave of the hand, she left the room with a silent click from the door closing behind her. With a soft sigh, I walked over to the huge couch and placed Sora gently on it, then stepped away and examined him sprawled on the soft leather. His breath continued in even gasps, and I smiled.

With one last glance at him, I went to the small hall and opened the door on the right. I was once again amazed, because the bathroom before me was more like a mini spa. There was a large hot tub, and a normal tub that was about the size of a small swimming pool, and quite deep. There was a stand-in shower, and a huge vanity with a neat sink. It was a simple glass bowl with a hole in the bottom where the water from the tap went down, and the water came from the mirror. The toilet was nicer than any I had ever seen, and had a classical hanging flush above it.

I closed the door shaking my head softly, and turned to the second one on the left. This time, it was more normal than the rest. The bed was huge, beyond any size I knew of, but the room was painted a simple green with a fountain on one side, the imagery of a forest displayed behind it like a waterfall. The picture of the forest took up the whole wall, and faced the end of the bed so that if one were to sit up they would briefly think they were sleeping in front of a waterfall.

I briefly sat on the bed, checking its comfort, and then stood. Silently, I took Sora to the bed and pulled down the lime green covers, laying him gently on the white sheets and making sure his head was comfortable on the white feather pillow. Then I softly pulled the covers over him, ignoring the fact that he still had his shoes on, and walked out of the room.

I paused for a moment, leaning against the now closed door, and let out a long sigh. I let my thoughts rearrange themselves, and then pushed myself off the wall. With nothing else to do but sit on the couch, I entered the washroom. I stood there for a moment, briefly deciding on what to do, and then stripped myself clean. I then noticed the washer and dryer that were displayed in the far corner, hidden behind the stand-in shower, and dumped my clothing inside. After starting the wash, I walked, bare-footed, to the tub.

Leaning over, I turned the hot water tap and watched as the water flowed out of the tap. I twisted the cold water tap gently, letting the water become less scolding, and waited patiently for the water to completely fill the tub. As a pass time, I looked around again. Out of pure curiosity, I opened the vanity and was surprised to find a jar of fresh rose petals, as well as rose scented soap and shampoo and conditioner. I smiled, knowing that Alex had remembered the rose was both my favorite smell and flower.

I grabbed the items, placing them on the edge of the bath for later use, and then stepped around to the wash. There was another twenty minutes until I could place them into the dryer. I looked above the machines, and found a small cupboard. Curiosity once again overtook me, and I opened the cupboard. I was extremely pleased to find a long white dress that matched that of the finest Goddesses of Greek for after, and a long white robe to dry off in as well as use for waiting. I grabbed the silky robe and slipped it over my shoulders, feeling the soft material against my skin.

It took another ten minutes for the tub to fill, and I slipped the robe off and slowly slipped into the water. Even in my immune state, I could feel the warmth, and took great pleasure in it. after adding the rose petals, I simply sat there, relaxed and with my eyes closed. To any observer, I would most likely merely look asleep.

I left the tub for a brief minute to switch the clothes into the dryer and then returned to the tub. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, taking in the scent of the roses, listening to the hum of the machine hidden from view. It was the first time I had been truly relaxed since the beginning of this journey, and I took great pleasure in it.

When I felt well bathed, I grabbed the soap and slipped it over my body, cleansing all dirt and grime that had not already floated off of my body, and then lathered the shampoo into my hair. After rinsing and conditioning my hair, I sighed in contentment at the smell of roses everywhere, and then gently slipped out of the pool.

Grabbing the silken robe, I pulled the plug and watched the water slowly drain. After thurily drying my body off, I returned to the cupboard and grabbed a towel from the top shelf, drying my hair as much as possible, and then reached for the dress. After slipping it over my head, I watched as it flowed down my body into a perfect fit, hugging my curves in all the right places and accentuating my pale skin. When I looked at the mirror, I laughed lightly at the tangled mess on top of my head and steadily combed through it.

When I was finished, I hardly recognized myself. I always knew I had been beautiful since my transformation, but I only saw the true beauty of it now. The dress made me look like a maiden you would find in fairytales, and I was immediately reminded of snow white, with her coal black hair and lips as red as any apple. However, I thought my eyes, bright electric blue, were the most noticeable.

After finishing with the mirror and combing my hair into its usual style-the bangs hiding my left eye-I stepped lightly out of the bathroom. There was still a while until my clothing would finish drying, and I decided I would make a plate for Sora, for whenever he awoke. Happier and more relaxed than usual, I skipped into the kitchen.

I had been right about the fridge. There were too many choices, and I found myself helpless and unsure. Finally, I settled with a plate of fruit, a glass of orange juice, a small bowl of fruit dip, and peanut butter and jam sandwiches. After arranging them all, I went to the couch and sat, waiting. I didn't feel like watching anything on the television, never having been fond of the invention, and instead settled for gently laying down with my eyes closed.

I lay there for a long time, my breath becoming even and my mind shutting off from the world, but I was not asleep. I was completely aware of anything around me, but paid no mind to any of it, only listening to my own breathing as my mind soared through various memories. One memory caught my attention, and I found my breath hitching as I remembered it for the second time since I had met Sora, but this time it held much more recognition for me.

"_There is another world, one at peace, the one that the door to light leads…it really is a beautiful place. I once belonged there." The silver hair surrounded his young face, and his green eyes pierced into mine as he gave me a small grin. "Now I have to give into the darkness, so that I can help my friends. I'll never be able to go back now."_

Hadn't he been exactly what Sora had described? I couldn't recall the boy's name, but I don't think he ever mentioned it to me. I tried to remember where the boy had come from, and why he had been with me. After much contemplating, I realized that it had been around a day or two before I had chased after the man clad in black, and I had found him wondering the streets of the underworld searching for something desperately. He had been blindfolded, but he seemed to know exactly what everything was around him. I remembered how difficult it had been to tell him to take off the blindfold, and felt a small smile tugging at my lips.

"Kiera?" the audible gasp of wonder that escaped after my name was what really caught my attention, and my eyes flew open. Sora was standing at the foot of the couch, staring at me in awe, and his hair was ruffled from sleep. I gave an amused grin, sitting up and pointing at the counter. It took him a minute to avert his gaze to where I was pointing.

"I readied a bit of food for you. If you want, you can raid the place. There's a whole bunch of food." I said absently, sliding my legs over the side of the couch so that I was sitting properly again. After a minute, Sora came to the couch with the food of plate I had made for him, as well as numerous sweets added to the pile.

"Where are we?" Sora asked after taking a grape and popping it into his mouth.

"In a place called Oblivion. It's in between worlds, a world that has no real place, that is here but is not. We're safe here, so don't worry." I added, and then looked him over. I could see all of the dirt and grime that had collected on the boy and his clothes since the journey had begun, and chuckled. "There's a bathroom with a washer and dryer. I think you should use it after you're finished eating."

"Right…" Sora mumbled, blushing. He ate rather quickly, revealing just how hungry he really was, and as soon as he was finished he left for the washroom. The whole time, a slight tint of red remained on his cheeks. Every time he glanced at me, the blush would deepen. I wondered if he also saw the different me, the one who was beautiful and like a god. I looked down at the dress, frowning gently.

He didn't emerge for over an hour, and when he did he was carrying my clothes, folded neatly, and wearing a cotton towel around his waste. When he placed the clothes on the edge of the couch, I could see just how in shape he was. His legs were muscular, and his arms rippled as he moved them. The muscles on his chest were extremely evident, even without flexing them, and when he hastily turned the muscles in his back rippled as well. Even with all of his muscles, he was still scrawny and small, but it was easy to tell the boy was strong, an easy athlete.

I realized the reason he had turned was because I had been observing him, and barely caught the blush on his cheeks before he did so. I noticed just how much dirt and grime had gathered on the boy then, considering how clean and smooth his skin was now. It was the colour of ivory, and completely flawless. The muscles in his neck strained as he bent his head down, looking at the floor, and I couldn't help staring.

"Kiera?" I was snapped out of my reverie when his soft voice reached my ears. The way he sounded so sad worried me. I stood gently, walking to his side and placing a cold hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Sora?" I whispered, frowning. He turned to look at me, and for a moment his eyes were so sad that I felt my heart squeeze, even though no life came from it.

"Can we talk, for a while?" he asked. I smiled, and nodded.

"Of course, we always can." I said, and then sat down on the couch. He sat directly beside me, leaving no space between us despite the fact that there was plenty of room. "What's worrying you?" I asked, restraining from taking his hand, which lay open on his lap.

"When I was bathing, I was thinking," he muttered. "When we were at Beast's castle…" my automatic train of thought headed towards the kiss, but I waited for him to finish. "Well, right before we left, you said we were companions. That was the mutual agreement we made, right? Ever since then, I've referred to you as my companion."

"Yeah, I know." I said, wondering where he was taking this.

"So you really meant it? That you wont try to protect me every two seconds, from absolutely everything?" he asked, now looking at me. I sighed then, rubbing a hand over my face.

"Sora, I'll still try my hardest to protect you, but no. I won't try and keep you safe at the same time as keeping myself safe. I _will_, however, interrupt a battle if I see you get hurt worse than a few scratches. If you argue with me, I will argue back," I added quickly, glaring as he opened his mouth to disagree. His mouth closed and he glared stubbornly at the ground. Then I smiled, leaning forward to stroke his cheek. "Don't worry about anything right now, okay? Enjoy the leisure time that we have." I had forgotten he was only wearing a towel, and became slightly nervous when I looked down at his bare chest. It was odd, talking to him when he wasn't wearing clothes.

"Yeah, alright," he muttered, frowning. "It's just…you got really hurt in the Underworld, just because you were trying to keep me from getting hurt." My mind flashed back to Hades and his ball of fire. So that was where these questions were coming from. I smiled grimly, and patted his head gently.

"That was from the influence of the dead more than the blow. They took the opportunity of my brief weakness to overpower me and numb me, make me…paralyzed, in a way." I stated, and watched his face for his reaction. The boy looked confused, his cute nose slightly wrinkled. When he looked at me, the deep blue pools delved deep into my soul, and I once again wished to lean forward and feel his lips against mine.

"The dead did that? Why?" he asked. I explained to him what the dead did to me, and the reason behind it. Soon, I was speaking of my own accord, recalling most of my life and telling him about the people I had seen die or had killed. I wasn't sure where the words had come from, or why I was telling him any of this. With every word, I could see the fascination and horror behind his eyes.

"It was all because of Marcus. He was the one who changed me, the one who started it all…" I finally whispered, and looked away from him.

"Marcus?" Sora asked, and I could hear the confusion in his voice, as well as the accusation.

"He is my creator, my father and lover in every sense of the words." I frowned then, and began to play with the hem of my dress. "He is thousands of years old, older than any vampire I have ever met. His power over people is both amazing and frightening. In a way, he is the king of our kind. He even resisted the likes of my sister, of whom I have just learned is the queen of this land."

"You have a sister?" Sora asked, but I could tell he wanted to ask more of Marcus. I looked at him with a sudden, radiant smile as happiness once again filled me. The mere thought of my sister being alive made me soar, for during the brief time that we had been condemned to this room I had only been thinking of my journey, and of Sora.

"Yes, her name is Alex. She looks a lot like me, but her eyes are much lighter…" and so I entered a new subject, describing my sister in every way I could, telling him everything I remembered. I couldn't remember the last time I had been this open, this relaxed and serene. I had a feeling that I was not only the smell of roses, but the boy who sat beside me, slowly inching closer and closer, even when our thighs touched.

"She sounds great," Sora said when I finished. He said nothing on the fact that she wished to journey with us, and I had the feeling that he really didn't mind. Then he took an unexpected turn in conversation, looking up at the beige ceiling. "When you kissed me, what were you thinking about? was it…that Marcus person?"

"Wha-no!" I gasped out, standing up. He fell over, and I only just realized that he had been leaning on me. However, he did not move. His face was blank, and he lay against the sofa completely limp, his head laying softly against the arm of the couch. I knelt down, staring into his blank eyes, and frowned. "Sora, what's wrong with you?"

"You said…he was your lover?" it was more of a question than a statement, like he wanted me to say that I had said otherwise. I finally realized why he was so distant, even when I had been so happy. However, that didn't mean I understood why. Why on earth would Sora be worried about a lover, or anyone for that matter that I could like? Inwardly, I wanted to say that he would never have to worry anyways-all I ever saw was him.

"No, Sora. When someone changes you, there is an unexplainable bond that is created between you. When you are bitten, you experience a greater pleasure than any you have ever felt in your entire life, and for one moment you feel as if you have been binded to that person in many more way than one, whether you wish to be or not. I have hated Marcus with every fiber of being in my body since the moment I laid eyes on him, but I cannot break that bond or deny that pleasure." As I explained, I stroked Sora's hair, which was still slightly damp from the bath. I looked down absently to find that his towel was soon going to unwrap, and nervously looked back up at his face. There was little life returning.

"Sora…please." I whispered, running a finger from his temple t his jaw. His eyes flashed, and he finally looked up at me-directly into my eyes. For that brief moment, so many things were said between the connection, but it was severed by the mere fact that this time it was not I, but Sora who leaned forward, shy but eager.

His lips touched mine hesitantly, but I leaned into the kiss, urging him to feel the same way I did for him. The mere possibility of it left me breathless, and so eager to find out that I found myself losing control. I was on top of his, holding his face gently between my hands as I continuously kissed him. He returned each one, just as eager as I was, and I was extremely surprised when he rolled over and caused us to fall off of the couch. I laughed, but was quickly cut off by another kiss.

At that moment, I knew. There had not been a time where I did not love this boy, even before I had met him. Somewhere, deep in my soul, I had always been waiting for him, always been waiting to take him as my own. Ever since I had laid eyes on the boy, hugging a duck as he awoke from a year long sleep in too-small of clothes, his face flashed through my mind at every second of every one of the three days I had been with him.

I made my kiss more bold, and much more enthusiastic, running my tongue along his bottom lip. A small gasp erupted from his small, innocent body, and I took the chance to part my own lips and run my tongue over his own. The taste was sweet, his own but with a hint of strawberry from the food he had eaten. I pulled his body closer to mine, and he was suddenly kissing me back much more fiercely.

I wasn't sure what happened after that, because my mind had gone blank in pure pleasure. However, I was forced to come back to reality when the door suddenly burst open, an overly giddy vampire skipping into the room singing a merry song that suddenly cut off with a very loud, almost _too_ enthusiastic of a surprised squeal.

I cursed Alex for knowing this would happen.

End Chapter


	9. Possession

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts

Chapter 9: Possession

I pushed Sora off of me gently, of whom was heaving from loss of breath. He rolled off of me, and curled into a tight ball as I sat up, bewildered. Alex stood there, not even surprised as she beamed at me. "Excellent! I knew I picked the perfect room! However…you could've stayed on the couch, instead of going on the floor. Even a carpet of that expense isn't exactly comfy for making out."

"Alex…" I gasped, shakily standing and straightening my dress. "What are you…?"

"Well, you can't expect me to wait for more than five hours, can you? It only took me five minutes to pack, and another hour to find a successor. Then I fed for extra precaution, repacked about three times, yadda, yadda, yadda, and I was starting to get bored. So I decided, screw it; I'm just going to interrupt them no matter what they're doing! It's kind of sad that I couldn't wait a little bit longer, though. He could've had your dress off, then." Alex babbled, and then paused, looking down at me with a satisfied smirk. I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

"No, no, no!" I yelled out, cramming my hands to my ears, but it did not block the sudden laughter coming from Alex.

"I know, I know. You'd never do that." She chimed, and then she was next to me, using her inhuman speed. After slowly lowering my hands, I looked at Sora. He was still curled into a tight ball, his spine sticking out against his skin and his towel merely draped over his abdomen now. It had obviously completely fallen off during our activities, and he must have grabbed it as soon as the door had opened.

"Sora?" I whispered, touching his shoulder gently. He slowly turned, and I was surprised that his face was a bright red, but there was definitely evidence of pure excitement in his eyes. He looked up at me, lips swollen and slightly apart, and I grinned. Without consciously thinking, I leaned down and softly placed my lips on his for a very brief moment, before pulling away and brushing a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "This is my sister, Alex."

"Hey, Sora! It's nice to finally meet you in the flesh…while you're awake," she added, and stuck out a flawless, manicured hand. Sora hesitantly raised his arm and took her hand, and she enthusiastically shook it before letting it drop. "Well, I think you two should get dressed so we can leave. Shoo, let Kiera dress here," Alex said, waving Sora away. He obediently stood, wrapping his towel securely around his waist before doing so, and ran out of the room beet red.

"That wasn't very nice," I sated once he disappeared. I was more disappointed in myself than Alex, though. His innocence was shrouded now, thrown into oblivion and never to return. It hurt to think that I was the one who took it away. I wondered how long it would take for the blush to leave his face, and how long it would take for him to talk to me.

"He's gotta learn some time. Most fifteen year olds these days end up getting their girlfriend pregnant and do drugs," Alex waved her hand, and rolled her eyes as she grabbed my clothes and chucked them at me. "Hurry and get dressed, please."

"Most fifteen year olds"-I was cut off by pulling my dress over my head-"Aren't saving a whole bunch of worlds from certain doom." I finished, and grabbed the corset. I scrunched my nose, staring at it for a moment before looking at Alex. "Do you have anything better I could use?"

"Yeah, here…" she rummaged in a bag for a moment, and pulled out a black tank top with a red dragon running along the waist. It fit almost as tight as the corset, and the straps were so thin and loose that they were pointless. When I looked again, I realized that the straps weren't even attached to the tank top, but loosely held by a tiny thread. I glared, and with the lightest of tugs both straps were on the ground.

"You did that on purpose…" I muttered, looking at the literally sleeveless tank top. It wasn't even a tank top, it was a tube top. I may as well have been wearing the corset. Without really thinking, I took off the tube top and replaced it with the corset again. Alex chuckled, taking the top. I slipped the skinny jeans on impatiently, grumbling to myself as I grabbed the short sleeved black hoodie. The clothes felt nice, clean. I paused, just realizing that I could feel everything that I was touching, to the exact point.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked absently as she played with a stray piece of hair. I looked at my hands, and grinned.

"I can feel again," I whispered, and Alex looked up at me incredulously.

"Silly girl, of course you can! You always could, you were just so blinded by brooding that you decided to make one more flaw with the creature you became. I think it's high time you start accepting what you are, and start liking the things this life can give you. For instance, if you _wish_ to feel warmth or cold, all you have to do is will it and you will. Ignorance can do a great many things, and plays with your mind. For the past one hundred and ninety nine years you've been this creature, you've been too absorbed by how much you hate it that you don't even care about the good things." Alex said, and then grinned. "So get used to it."

"Thanks," I whispered, and then grinned. I had a feeling that Alex was leaving something out, though. For a moment, I even saw a flash of worry in her eyes. It was at that moment, though, that Sora came through the bathroom door, his clothes completely clean and fresh. He blushed when he came near me, but he was not shy. I was surprised at how bold he was, as he absently took my hand. He seemed hesitant, but not in a shy way, in the way where he was waiting to be rejected. I squeezed his hand, looking at Alex. She beamed.

"Let's go, then," she said. Clapping, she stood and went to the door. "Everyone ready?" She asked, looking at the two of us. For the first time, I noticed that she was not wearing the royal, gothic robes, but a white tank top with thin straps, a pair of hip-hugger jeans that fit nearly as tightly as my own, and a pair of black low top Chuck Taylor's.

"Are those your traveling clothes?" I asked incredulously. She looked down at her clothes briefly, and then grinned.

"No, silly! These are the clothes for the portal, and then I'll be changing into shorts!" She replied, and out of her bag held up a pair of denim shorts that looked like they wouldn't even reach half way down her thighs. I sighed, watching as she slipped the shorts back into the single, rather large bag. "Come along now, we don't want to miss helping out Hercules do we?"

"Is he in trouble?" it was the first time Sora had spoken since our conversation, and he suddenly looked anxious. I squeezed his hand again, and he looked at me hopelessly. I wondered how we were going to act around the others, and what conversations would come with this sudden new relationship, if it was a relationship at all.

"Don't worry, Donald and Goofy are there." I reassured, and Sora looked even more worried. Stepping forward so that he was even with Alex, he nodded to her. She opened the door, and I was surprised to find us looking down on the coliseum, which looked rather tattered. Without thinking, I took Sora's hand again and jumped out, and then we were flying down, and I could barely hear Alex behind us laughing.

The whole way I relished in the feeling of him holding on to me tightly, and not because he _had_ to, but because he _wanted_ to. He could let go at any time, which was obvious, but he seemed to refuse to. We began to descend slower and slower, and finally came to a halt directly in front of the Underworld entrance.

The place was in near ruins. A huge purple monster was tearing the place apart with Phil trying to do something about it, and Hercules, Donald and Goofy were nowhere in sight. "That's the Hydra!" Alex said, skipping to my side with a wide grin. I stared at her like she was insane for a very long moment, and she slowly started to frown in confusion. "What?"

"It's destroying the place!" I snapped. "You think this is a game?"

"No, I was stating a fact. If you'd like, I could go kill the thing for you while you search for your friends. Would that be better?" She asked tersely, her mouth a solid line. I could tell I had offended her, and I smiled softly.

"Yes, please. We'll be back later," I said, and turned to the entrance of the underworld. It was then that I realized the lack of a hand in mine, and saw in the distance Sora running down the steps. I cursed my oblivious attitude and sped down the steps at top speed, reaching Sora in seconds. As soon as I reached him, I encased him in my arms and sped to a halt. A small screech left his lips, and then he looked up at me with wide eyes.

"They're down here!" He cried, trying to wiggle out of my reach. He got his feet on the ground, but he was unable to budge afterwards. I could hear the frantic breathing, and how fast his heart was beating. He was beginning to go into hysterics in his worry.

"Sora!" I whispered, letting go of his body to grab his face. He immediately stopped, and his eyes strayed down slightly, then back up to my eyes. He was quiet, his breathing slowly evening out as if he were beginning to go into a trance. I licked my lips, and leaned forward to press my forehead to his. "Calm down, we'll find them, and we'll save them if we have to. I'm sure they're fine, especially Hercules."

"Yeah…" Sora whispered, his body going completely limp. His forehead was warm against mine, and I knew that my body temperature was probably going to make him cold soon. I pulled away, my hands falling from his face, and was surprised when he took them and brought them back. "Please don't leave me…"

"Why would I ever do that?" I asked, my breath hitching. For a moment, his eyes watered as if he were about to cry, and he looked up, straight into my own. He looked wounded, like he was a lost puppy trying to find his way home after having been thrown out and not knowing it.

"I know that, after what happened…" a small blush filled his features, but he did not look embarrassed. "It would be silly to think you would ever leave me, I know, but I can't help but keep on thinking of what you _said_." He sighed, looking down and dropping a hand to run it through his hair. I kept my hands still, holding his face directly in front of mine.

"About Marcus," I guessed. "The fact that I said he was my lover."

"Yes…" Sora admitted, and then gave a sheepish smile. "You also said he was looking for you. It made me wonder if you'd go with him, if he did find you. Then I started to worry that you would leave me. You're the only…" He sighed, seeming to struggle for something. Then he smiled, as if he had just told a joke that wasn't supposed to be funny. "You're the only girl I've ever felt this way about. I've never experienced anything like this, and I don't know what it is. In a way, it scares me, but I don't want it to stop. I want to keep feeling it forever, and never give it up. I know that it'll be that way if I could just keep you with me."

"Sora, I won't leave you," I mumbled, leaning forward again. My nose touched his, and I stopped. "I can't. I was destined to be with you, no matter how cheesy that sounds. My heart, my soul, they've been waiting for you all these years. The reason I'm still here and somewhat alive is so I can be with you. So long as you want me, and so long as it's right for you, I will _always_ be there, no matter the cost. If Marcus comes…I'll find a way to stay, Sora, I swear I will. You _never_ have to worry about me leaving, _ever_. I love you."

His breath stopped, and I nearly pulled away and cursed myself. I had said too much, and had probably gone too deep for the child. He surprised me though, by grinning and throwing his arms around me. He closed the distance, our lips crushing together in an instant. I returned the kiss enthusiastically, all worry leaving me for a moment as I forgot the reason we were on a damp, cold staircase.

When he pulled away, he was still smiling. My hands dropped from his face as I returned the smile, and then I looked behind him. Frowning, I looked at him again. "Sora…we should probably go." He turned as well, and we both took another step. "Are you ready?" I asked, and he turned to me, still smiling a little.

"With you, of course I am." He replied, taking my hand. If I were human, my face probably would have gone extremely red even with his sudden confidence in this relationship, but thankfully there was a slight shortage of blood in my system. We walked down the steps, quietly and cautiously but also enjoying ourselves. It was odd, to feel so happy when danger was so close.

The first thing we noticed was that everyone was running towards us. Even Hercules was there. "Sora!" Donald quacked, the first in line. Sora let go of my hand as he rushed to meet him, and I suddenly felt empty and embarrassed. I quietly stood behind Sora, not looking at any of them and instead staring at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, and Goofy stepped forward.

"Hades got Megara, and now she's being held captive in the Underworld Cavern!" Goofy exclaimed, his arms flying everywhere. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my short sleeved hoodie, staring at the floor still.

"Alright, let's go save her!" Sora replied, and I smiled softly. He was always the hero, no matter what. Even under the current promise I had given him, he wasn't hesitant to do anything that was life risking. How could I keep a promise like this when he was constantly out there risking his own neck for the sake of everyone else but himself?

I barely kept track of where we were going, my mind completely distracted by the past twenty-four hours. So much had changed that I even had a hard time processing it, and I wondered just how well Sora was faring. I couldn't imagine him doing any better than me, and I could tell by the way he seemed to be battling the Heartless a little less thurily, even with the rest he had gotten. I was often helping him.

Neither of us were paying attention obviously, but that was changed rather quickly when we ran into a large cavern. Standing in the middle of it was a hooded figure, almost blending with the walls. Immediately, I was on guard, my katana forming in my hands in an instant. The others became ready as well, and the Organization member turned.

"You?" He muttered, pulling down his hood. He had, to my distaste, a mullet. His hair was blonde, and he had blue eyes. he put one hand on his hip and the other went into the air, to point at Sora. "Wait a sec…Roxas?" He muttered, and Sora stepped back. He looked offended, but the cloaked man didn't seem to notice. "Roxas?" After a moment, he sighed and shook his head. "Oh, it's no use."

"Uh…what're you talking about?" Sora asked, obviously confused. I stepped forward, blocking him from view as the keyblade formed in his hands. I could hear the others all stepping forward to guard Sora as we waited for the figure to say something.

"It says here…_If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition._ Awe man…did they ever pick the wrong guy to do this," The guy muttered, and shook his head. I stared at him in disbelief, and he pulled out a circular item that had the symbol of the Greek gods on the surface. Donald, Goofy and Sora suddenly exclaimed, and I could hear Hercules grit his teeth.

"You must be the thief!" Donald quacked, pointing his want at the man. His face scrunched up in mock hurt.

"That's just plain rude!" He called, and raised the stone above his head. A circle of light engulfed him, and I leaned over so my lips were by Sora's ear.

"What's with the stone?" I whispered, and Sora chuckled.

"It keeps us from getting too enticed by the darkness. It gives us our full strength back. The gods made it so that they would be able to come down here without being drained of power, like Hades wants them to." He whispered. "Hercules told us about it when we first met up with him, in front of the Coliseum."

"Oh…I guess I wasn't really paying attention," I muttered, but our conversation was cut short as I realized the organization member became ready for a fight. He suddenly had a huge two-necked guitar in his hands, and I crouched low, ready to spring. It was unexpected when he suddenly strummed the guitar strings and water sprouted out, forming figures that were both instruments and Nobodies, but still just water.

"Dance water, dance!" he called out, and I gritted my teeth. I was the first one to burst forward and strike through three of the figures in a row, and then I headed straight for the organization member. When I reached him, however, something sent me flying backwards. Sora caught me and looked down at me with a worried expression, but I pushed away from him and struck through three more figures.

It wasn't long before I was once again in front of the cloaked figure. "Tell me something," I whispered when I was close enough. For a moment, his attention was diverted away from his water figures and he was staring at me. "What's your name? Just so I know who I killed when this is all over," I hissed, glad to have something to pay attention to other than Sora.

"Haha! It's Demyx!" He called, and then strummed the guitar again. A gust of water went straight for me, and hit me against the wall. Sora cried out, but I easily stood up, coughing up a bit of water as I did so. I sighed, looking down at my now drenched clothing.

"I just did my laundry, too…" I muttered with a sigh. Rolling my eyes, I paid attention to the water figures. If we defeated all of them, there was a higher chance we would be able to get to Demyx. However, the battle stopped as soon as Sora struck through the last visible one. Suddenly everything went silent, and Demyx stood in the center of the cavern panting. With a chuckle, he stood up straight.

"Looks like this wont be settled here," he said, looking straight at me. His attention turned to Sora instead. "Come back to us, Roxas. We miss you," he said, and then a vortex of types formed behind him. He stepped back into the portal, and disappeared with it. I cursed, falling to my knees and whipping the water from my face.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, suddenly kneeling beside me. I glanced at him, and then sighed.

"It would be nice if, for once, I could kill at least _one_ of those bastards before they ran away with their tail between their legs. If they're so strong, why do they keep on disappearing like that?" I hissed, cradling my head in my arms. There was nothing I could think of other than the fact that they were scared of us, but it wasn't possible for them to be scared. I that was the case, what were they planning? And who was Roxas?

"That's the second time someone called me Roxas…" Sora muttered, and I could hear him sit down beside me. I sighed, and glanced at him. He gave me a small smile, and then frowned. "I want to know who he is. I want to know why they keep calling me that…why they say they want me to go back to them…"

"Hey, look!" Donald suddenly quacked and pointed to where Demyx had previously been standing. I stared at the circular stone that was laying there, watching as Goofy picked it up and brought it to the now standing Sora. Hercules was leaning against the cave wall, watching them as he wiped sweat from his brow.

After the same odd light that had previously engulfed Demyx formed around Sora, Donald, Goofy and Hercules, the stone disappeared into oblivion and the four boys suddenly looked a lot less tired. I smiled softly, and clenched my fist. There was nothing that thing could do for me, since I was already dead. I probably didn't even exist to the thing.

"Well then, shall we continue?" I asked, raising to my feet. Everyone looked to me, and Sora came up to me with a delighted expression. I returned the smile, and then turned around to face the only exit besides where we had come from. Sora looked that way too, and then took a step forward. Beside him, Hercules seemed to look a bit overly determined, as if he were chanting something in his head.

The quick walk up the steps gave me time to mentally prepare myself for anything about to come. If we had to face Hades, then I would have to sit out before he realized exactly what I was. He would use it to his advantage, if he knew that Sora had both a weak point, and a weak point that he could easily get rid of.

I wanted to curse him for my weaknesses, but he hadn't been the one to cause this. My being had been created by another, and that man seemed to know how to manipulate anything. It felt like he had been the one to put me where I was, he had been the one to choose what happened to me throughout my various years of life.

"Kiera?" I jumped at the soft sound of Sora's voice, and glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He looked concerned about something, like he had been trying to get my attention for a while. That was impossible, because we were only half way up the steps, and there could only be about twenty steps.

"What is it?" I mumbled, looking ahead of me again. His hand suddenly took mine, and I wondered why he was suddenly so bold. When I looked at his face again, he seemed almost worried.

"What happened to your sister?" he asked. I blinked in confusion, remembering when I had departed from her. I had forgotten that he had run off before he could hear our mutual agreement. I wondered why he was so curious as to what happened to Alex, but I did not voice my curiosity. He seemed to notice, anyways, and spoke before I could. "I was just wondering, because she disappeared, and I was thinking about the fight ahead…"

"Do you think it would be better if more people were here to help us?" I whispered, glancing at the rest of the party. They all seemed to have the same grim determination on their faces. Sora looked slightly guilty, but I smiled softly. "You know, you should have faith not only more so in your comrades, but in yourself as well. If you don't think you can take on the enemy alone, then you cannot defeat him with others either."

"What do you mean?" he seemed genuinely confused, even bringing a finger up to the corner of his mouth as he tried to think of my reasoning. I chuckled gently, as we stepped onto the last step.

"I mean that all you will be doing is being a burden to your teammates, since they'll have to look out for you as well. This isn't just you by yourself, but if you feel confident enough to defeat whatever lies in store for you, then you will succeed with only yourself. The same goes for them, as well. At this current moment, Hercules is the burden." I mumbled, as we stepped into a different room.

"Hercules?" Sora asked, seeming to be more confused. I looked around, and was surprised to see a single large boulder ahead of me. Carved into it was Meg, glowing slightly in rainbow colors. It was merely an empty cave except for this, and I was surprised that this was all we had to do. I could see the keyhole that was embedded into the rock-the keyhole either Sora or I could unlock.

"He doesn't feel very confident at the moment. He questions his powers, and whether or not he is truly a true hero. He's worried that he never will be, since he still hasn't been blessed by the gods as one. As a result, he has grown to be a liability. He isn't paying attention, and when he attacks it's only half-hearted. We're going to have to watch his back and make sure he doesn't get hurt." I replied, returning my attention to Sora.

"Yeah, but…" Sora seemed reluctant to believe this, but he gave a small, grim smile. He looked up at the boulder, and then glanced in the direction Hercules was in. "Come on, we need to finish this and get Meg safe." He said, and the keyblade formed in his hands. I put a hand on his shoulder, my katana-form keyblade forming in my other hand.

"Be careful. This could be a trap. I know Meg is our priority, but we have to take into consideration that Hades is planning something by making us free her." I muttered, glaring at the boulder. When I glanced at Sora, I was surprised to see him smiling happily.

"I know, Kiera." He whispered. "Thank you…" and he rose his keyblade. A bright beam of light emitted from the end, directly into the center of the keyhole. A resound click echoed in the cave, and then a bright light flashed from the boulder, causing a temporary blindness.

When everything was more visible, I glanced at the boulder to find that Meg was no longer carved into it. Instead, there was a bright beam of light coming from it, going straight up into nothing in particular. I watched as Hercules suddenly ran forward, and was shocked to find that he easily disappeared into it. He didn't come back out.

"Kiera, stay here in case something happens!" Sora called, and I jumped when I realized he was also running for the light. Donald and Goofy went after him, all of them letting out war cries. I blinked, wondering what exactly had just happened, and fell to the floor in surprise. I wanted to go after them, but for some reason I was listening to Sora.

In all honestly, I had no clue how long I sat there for, staring at the beam of light in awe. I wasn't even sure why I was so surprised. It was most likely because of the bright flash, and then the sudden spur of movements as every one ran forward but myself. It could also have been because Sora had gone as well, and had left me behind. And I had listened to him.

"Well this is odd. Where's your subject?" I jumped at the sound of Alex's voice, and turned to face her. She was not wearing what she said she would change into-the tiny little shorts-but instead a pair of black leather shorts that were nearly as short. A pair of black knee-high socks adorned her legs, and on her feet were a pair of steel-toed boots that reached just as high as the socks. She wore her white tank top still, a pair of black fingerless gloves like my own on her hands. Strapped to her thigh was a holster that held a long dagger, and I was reminded of an action heroine.

"Why are you so dressed for action?" I asked, turning back to the boulder and closing my eyes. Alex chuckled softly, and I listened as she sat down beside me. When I opened my eyes and glanced at her again, she was pulling her hair into a braid. I ran a hand through my hair subconsciously as I watched her do this.

"Hey, Kiera?" Alex whispered as her hands worked to finish the braid quickly. I looked at her closely, and saw that she looked slightly concerned. I wondered what she could be worrying about, considering there was nothing for _her_ to worry about at the moment.

"What is it?" I mumbled, falling back so that I was lying down. Alex copied me, already finished her braid. I closed my eyes, content with the current moment even though Sora could be in danger.

"Why do you love him? Why are you protecting him like this? Does it feel…nice?" Alex whispered, and I opened my eyes in surprise. When I had regained my composure, a soft smile filled my features.

"I'm not sure why, Alex. It feels…incredible, but it hurts a lot at the same time. It's really hard to explain, you know? I guess…you can't really understand until it happens to you. I had always thought that I understood every emotion, and I had scoffed when people told me I didn't understand when they said they loved a person. Now, I think I know how they feel. How could anyone possibly know if they haven't experienced it themselves?" I whispered, staring up at the unending oblivion. There didn't appear to be a ceiling.

"I wish…" Alex paused, seeming to search for something, and then continued. "I wish I could feel that way. For someone special. I know I love you, but I also know it's not the same kind of love. The love I feel for you makes me happy, because I know you're alright, and I know that I can always be there for you, but to feel the need to protect, and the need to have them in such a deep bond that you're willing to give them up…"

"Ah!" I exclaimed, surprised as sudden noise came from the protruding light. I sat up abruptly, Alex following my lead, and we watched as four figures stepped out. I recounted, and then frowned. If they had gotten Meg, then there should have been five. Who was missing, then? Had something really bad happened?

"Kiera! Take Meg back to the coliseum!" I heard Sora's voice call, and then I could see them clearly as they all ran away from the light. When I scanned them all, I found that Hercules wasn't there.

"What's going on?" I asked, surprised that they all looked frantic. Sora was supporting Meg, her arm draped over his shoulder as she limped feebly towards us. A slight hint of jealousy ran through me, but I ignored it.

"Hercules is fighting alone up there, and I'm going back to help him!" Sora exclaimed as he turned back around, letting Meg support herself. I stepped up, running after him.

"You're not going there alone this time," I hissed, glaring at him. He stared at me for a very brief moment, and then smiled. He turned to Donald and Goofy, who were both trying to make sure Meg didn't fall, and then glanced at Alex. He seemed surprised for a moment, but he seemed to dismiss whatever it was right away.

"Donald, Goofy, Alex, you watch Meg while Kiera and I go help Hercules, okay?" Sora said, and I smiled. The three addressed nodded, and Meg gave a grim smile in our direction.

"Good luck, guys. Bring Wonderboy back safely for me," She moaned, and fell to the ground in exhaustion. Alex was the one to go to her, and I turned to the beam of light. I knew it would be fine if it was Alex. I could trust her with my life-no; I could trust her with Sora's life. As I thought of him, I grabbed his hand, and together we ran forward to defeat whatever was laying ahead for us.

"Remember, Sora." I whispered, as we charged for the light. I wasn't sure if he could hear me, but that was fine. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to. "I'll always be there for you, no matter where it is…even in death…"

And as I said the words, there was nothing more true in my world.

End Chapter

A/N: Okay, so this is the last chapter that will ever be added to this story, because everything is going over to CherrySpringer. I just thought I'd upload the last of what I had written, which is up to here. No one really read this story anyways, but I thought I'd do it anyways. Well, this is the last of it, and for those who read DOT, I'm sorry, but I'll probably never finish it...


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